As Time Goes By
by Ghosts of the Past
Summary: There are things in life that can push people in different directions they never imagined going down. That's no exception for Rose Hathaway. She graduated and then left; never telling any of her friends where she was going. Fast forward almost twenty years later and everybody gets thrown for a loop. Full summary inside. Some chapters rated M. Small Hiatus for reworking.
1. Haunting Us

**So you can hate me for posting up new stories and not updating my other ones that need it so desperately, but I can't help it if I have new ideas for stories and then lag in trying to continue them. Either way enjoy reading another new story of mine. Please don't hate me to extremely.**

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 **Fully Summary  
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 **There are things in life that can push people in different directions they never imagined going down. That's no exception for Rose Hathaway. She graduated St. Vladimir but due to harsh circumstances she never became Lissa's promised Guardian. She left under mysterious circumstances and never told any of her friends where she was going.**

 **Fast forward almost twenty years later and things have changed at the Moroi Court. Lissa has become Queen Vasilisa Dragomir, Christian has become Prince Christian Ozera, Dimitri Belikov is still Vasilisa's Guardian and is still haunted by his past mistakes. But a chance meeting might throw everyone for a loop.**

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 **Rose's P.O.V**

 _"Love fades, mine has."_

Eighteen years later and those four little words still haunt me. I should have known better than to hope that our love had somehow survived. Maybe it had maybe it hadn't. Either way it didn't matter. He uttered those words in the church and I never looked back afterwards.

After moping around my room for a week, still kind of recovering Kirova gave me a month off; why? I didn't ask, I didn't want to know either. I had called my somewhat newly found father and told him that I wanted to move out with him when I graduated. I couldn't stand being around the Academy anymore. Abe agree and as soon as graduation came I left. I didn't have much time for explaining to my friends, hell Lissa and I even had a falling out thanks to Dimitri ( the ass he was), but those who I was still talking to I told them that I would be leaving by my own choice and if I could, I would talk with them as soon as I could.

Anyways here I was eighteen years later, working as a Guardian for my Aunt Maggie; crazy as she was we loved her. My mother and Abe got married about six months after I graduated, much to my surprise. And of course they had to keep it a secret. If anyone found out that Abe had a wife and a daughter we could easily become a liability, though it would be kind of hard considering we were both well trained Guardians but still. But I challenged Abe to his theory and changed my last name to Mazur.

Oh and here's another shocker. When I left the Academy I was pregnant; with a girl. I named her Lily, Lily Janine Belikova-Mazur. Even though I was never married to Dimitri I thought it would be nice, if she ever did run into her father, that she take his last name even if it was tagged by another last name. She's seventeen now and God does she remind me of Dimitri and yes occasionally me. But she took after Dimitri more than me, which I guess is a good thing, but even so she does have her Rose Hathaway tendencies. She had her training over at St. Basil and at home. Abe didn't think of giving her any less than the finest.

"Guardian Mazur," a voice shook my out of my thoughts. I looked up and saw that the voice was none other than my close friend, and mentee, Guardian Wolf; a young man of mid twenties with short cropped black hair and a small scar that ran from his left eye to his cheek.

"Guardian Wolf, to what do I owe this pleasure?' I asked. I stood up from my desk and walked to stand in front of him.

"Lily has requested that she see you immediately." Guardian Wolf said stiffly. I nodded my head and followed Guardian Wolf out of my private study. I marched down the long hallways of my home, for the past eighteen years. The house itself was a rather small city. Everything that we would need was within its walls.

"Lily," I called out for my daughter. Her room was in complete disarray. Clothes were thrown all over the place, draws were either half open or completely open, shoes were without a match and the curtains were drawn shut.

"In here," a soft voice shouted out. Lily's room was quiet large for a seventeen year old girl, but by the sound and direction of her voice I would safely bet that she was in her closet. I closed the door and walked towards her closet, shaking my head slightly.

"Is there something you need?" I asked my daughter. Her back was turned towards me but I couldn't help but smirk at the disarray my daughter had created.

"I don't know what to wear for tonight. I need your help mom." Lily said. I smiled and walk over to my teenage daughter. A cheeky smile graced Lily's lips as I shook my head.

"Well I don't think that his party will be that much of a big deal dear." I tell Lily. I knew exactly who she was trying to impress and quite frankly I didn't care for the boy but I supported my daughter no matter what. Though she was more like her father, more in control with her emotion, she did have a temper that rivaled my own; hell probably even my mother's.

"Mom you known that's not true. Anybody, who will be everybody, will be trying to get his attention. I know that you said act like you don't care and that he'll eventually notice you but seriously mom that hasn't worked out." Lily complained to me. I shook my head at her. The ever 'stubborn in my own opinion' teenage phase.

"Relax Lily; I suggest you wear the knee length black dress." I started to go on and on about what she should wear with the dress, how to do her makeup, how to wear her hair and what not. If you had asked me any of this stuff twenty years ago I would have looked at you like you were crazy and then punch you in the face.

Finally around eight o'clock she was ready. Guardian Wolf escorted her to the party and promised that he would keep an eye out on my daughter. I had nothing much left to do that night. My family was safe and happy and that's all that mattered to me.

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 **Dimitri's P.O.V  
**

 _"There you are Comrade," a familiar voice filled my ears. I turned around and see her smiling at me. I smile back and walk over to her, holding out my hand for her to take._

 _"Where have you been?" She asks me, taking my awaiting hand in hers'. I don't say anything. I pulled her in close and kissed her lips softly. I was afraid to let her go. I didn't want to let go, not now not ever._

 _"Whoa horsey, what's wrong?" She asks pulling away from our kiss. But she looks at me full of concern. She can see right through me like she always had before._

 _"I don't want to lose you again." I muttered out. She smirks at me and shakes her head._

 _"You're not going to lose me again Comrade; you never have." She says to me. I nodded my head. I pulled her in closer for another kiss, turning my head to the side to deepen it further. I feel her arms wrapping themselves around my neck. My hands find their way to her hair and tug gently._

 _I thought that something like this could never happen again. Not after I had messed things up so badly with her in the Church. How could I have ever been that stupid? She was the only one for me. But I was so buried in self pity and guilt that I felt like she was better off without me. But when she left I realized that I was at my worst without her. But no one knew where she went off too; and those who did didn't care to tell me. Frankly I couldn't blame them. I had been terrible to her. So why did I feel like She was meant to be back in my arms?_

 _"I'm not going anywhere Comrade. Not until you wish me away." She says pulling out of the kiss; her voice was just as beautiful as I remembered it. I smile at her and pull her in for a hug. I breathe in her scent as I untangle my hands from her hair and wrap my arms around her instead, never wanting to let go._

 _"I'm sorry my Roza," I muttered into her hair. I can feel her crack a smile into my shoulder._

 _"You have nothing to be sorry for Comrade. I'm right here, just like you wanted me to be." Roza mumbles out. I shook my head. She didn't know what I was talking about. I open my mouth to tell her but she placed her finger on my lips, silencing me before I could actually get a word out._

 _"I know what you're going to say Comrade, and you're wrong. It's not your fault. I should have tried to understand you more; and for that I am truly sorry." Roza tells me, pulling away from our hug. I look at her quizzically. She laughs at my expression and ends with a smile._

 _"This is a dream Dimitri; I only say what you think I would say or what you want me to say." Roza tells me. It all made sense now. I had never gotten Roza back; she was just a figment of my imagination. Roza looked the same because she was the same. She hadn't aged for me because I didn't know what she looked like now, eighteen years later that is._

 _"Roza I wish I knew where you were. I would tell you that I'm sorry, that I never meant what I said. I was stupid and I-" Roza silenced me by placing a single finger on my lips. She smiled at me and shook her head._

 _"For once you don't know when to stop talking." Roza jokes with me. I kiss her finger and move it out of the way so I could kiss my Roza again._

 _"I love you; I have never stopped loving you." I muttered to her. I move my lips to her neck, to the weak spot that I know she had; right at the corner of the space between her ear and jaw. I hear her let out a breathy moan._

 _"And I you, Comrade. How could I ever stop loving you?" Roza says before pushing off my duster that I had on. I could feel myself growing harder against her. Just seeing her, alone, could make me grow hard. I loved her, with all my heart._

* * *

 **Third P.O.V**

Suddenly, jolted out of his dreams, Dimitri woke up. He turned over to the bed side where the alarm clock was and slams it off. Thankfully he hadn't broken this one. The last alarm clock he had only lasted him two weeks before he broke it. Dimitri let out a groan as he got out of bed.

He had been having dreams about Rose every other night for the past eighteen years. What he had said to her in the church had haunted him ever since. He scolded himself for saying those four little words. They just came out of his mouth before he could think about the impact that they would have on her or him for that matter. I wished constantly that he could turn back the clock and take back those words that tore apart his world.

Dimitri got dressed for work, which were Guardian duties. Since Rose had disappeared he had stayed with protecting the Princess turned Queen. Dimitri thought that if anyone would know where Rose went off to, it had to be the Queen. She was Rose's best friend and (somewhat) legal Guardian. But as it turned out the Queen and Rose had a falling out, of sorts, eighteen years back and they hadn't been in contact since. Dimitri learned, about a month or two after graduation, that he was the cause of the falling out. He cursed himself even more. For all he knew she could be dead, or worse a Strigoi.

Dimitri didn't want to think about it anymore, so he did his best to push all thoughts of Rose out of his mind and focus on the task at hand, which for the time being, was breakfast.

Dimitri was silent for the walk downstairs to the main dining hall. Guardians and Morois ate separately, so he would meet up with the Queen in about an hour.

"Morning Guardian Belikov," a female Guardian greeted as soon as he entered the hall. He didn't say anything but gave her a courteous smile and nodded in acknowledgement. He didn't talk much with people but that didn't mean that he wasn't nice to people.

After the Queen moved to Court he had been gaining unwanted attention from a large crowd of females, Dhampir and Moroi alike. All tried to gain his attention but none had ever succeeded. Little did they know that his heart was already taken, by someone that he would most likely never get to see again.

'Just another day at Court.' Dimitri thought to himself. He sat by himself, ate silently and then went straight to work. When he got there Guardian Torres was all to glad to switch with him.

"Did anything happen?" Dimitri asked before Guardian Torres slipped away.

"Not much. Her Majesty is fighting with the Eastern European Parliament; she's trying to get Zmey extradited to Court for trail. Something to do with trafficking human blood." Guardian Torres explained. Dimitri nodded his head and relieved Guardian Torres from her post. Dimitri knocked on the door before entering and heard the muffled granting of the Queen's voice.

"Your Majesty." Dimitri greeted as he entered the room. The Queen looked up from her desk; the massive amounts of paper work on her desk seemed to drown the Queen.

"It's just Lissa, Dimitri." The Queen responded. She gave him that knowing smirk and glint in her eyes. Dimitri nodded his head and corrected himself.

"I assume Guardian Torres has told you what I'm dealing with?" The Queen stated, more as a question though. Either way Dimitri nodded his head but said nothing.

"Honestly, how hard can it be to extradite a man who makes no efforts to hide his activities?" The Queen sighed out. Dimitri shrugged his shoulders. If there was one thing that he wasn't good at, it was politics. He just didn't understand the structure of it all.

"Lissa, if I may?" Dimitri asked, motioning over to the stacks of paper. Lissa nodded her head and Dimitri promptly moved them aside to have a better look at the Zmey's case file.

"I know this man." Dimitri muttered out. "I've seen him before, a long time ago." Lissa looks up from her paperwork. Dimitri was holding the only photo of the infamous Zmey. Lissa raised an eyebrow at Dimitri.

"He frequented my hometown quiet often; he's not someone you want as an enemy." Dimitri warned Lissa. Lissa looked up at her most trusted Guardian with questions in her eyes. Dimitri started to elaborate more but soon was interrupted by Prince Christian Ozera, Queen Lissa's boyfriend.

"Hey Lissa," Christian greeted as he entered the room. Dimitri fell back into his Guardian mode. Dimitri watched Christian and Lissa silently. He had nothing else to do except protect the Queen, but his mind wander to his dreams of Rose. 'My Roza' he thought to himself.

* * *

"Carter, relax. Mom doesn't know." Lily said to Guardian Wolf. He smiled at the teenage girl as she led him around the busy market square. Guardian Wolf held her hand in his large one, in comparison. A part of him was scared to lose her in a big crowd, even though he knew that she could take care of herself, and then the other part of him that someone might find out about them. The thing was Guardian Carter Wolf was a man of honor, duty and responsibility. But his world got turned upside down when he was employed as a Guardian for the Zmey's granddaughter. Only a few people know who was in the Zmey's family, and those who did protected that secret with their life. Only Guardian Wolf's charge was something different all together. He thought he had seen it all, but boy was he wrong.

He met Lily when she was a freshman at St. Basil. Zmey had asked that she had a Guardian with her at all times. Carter found it to be a little strange at first, because why would he need to guard a Dhampir when he really should be guarding a Moroi, but when he found out why Zmey wanted her guarded at all times it made perfect sense to him. For one Lily's grandfather was a very powerful Moroi in the East European Parliament (even if he didn't actually have a seat in the house); two she was the only known child of two very well known and fear Dhampir Guardians, both still on active duty.

But over the course of watching her and protecting her he somehow fell in love with her. She was different from the other. She taught him things that he thought he would never feel in his life. Living the life as a Dhampir Guardian didn't allow him to fall in love with another Dhampir, or really fall in love at all. He was constantly protecting someone or something from a Strigoi threat, but she changed that. He was so focused on being good at his job that he didn't realize that he was missing out on the life of a normal twenty something year old person should do. Getting drunk, sneaking out with friends, stealing kisses from his girlfriend, going to parties. The whole nine yards. Lily changed all of that. She dragged him along to all kinds of things. She forced him to participate in those kinds of things. She got him to feel again and it was simply amazing for him. He fell in love with her crazy and wild spirit that always seemed to find trouble but somehow always managed to wiggle her way out of the punishments.

"Lily," Guardian Wolf let out a huff. Lily rolled her eyes at him. She knew him to always worry about the smallest things, and even though it drove her insane, it was something that she loved in him, and she wouldn't change it for the world.

"Carter please, I haven't seen you all week." Lily pouted and Guardian Wolf gave in. He was a sucker for her, that's for sure.

"Alright," Guardian Wolf agreed with Lily. Lily led them further away from the market square and once they were out of major foot traffic Lily pulled Guardian Wolf closer to her and gave him a passionate kiss. He responded to her with the same, if not more, enthusiasm. She snaked her arms around his neck as he pushed her up against the alley wall. His hands were exploring all over her body, up and down her side to pinning her hands next to her head. Lily relished the few moments that she could get with her secret boyfriend. Most of the time he was the stiff ridged Guardian, ready to take down an army of Strigoi to protect his _Kumru_ , but the few moments that he hand with her he was completely different. He was more carefree and open. Something that she found very amusing when she first saw his other side.

After a few more stolen kisses they pulled apart but never let go of each others hands. Lily was happy to finally spend some time with Carter, even if it was only for a few hours. Lily thought her mother would never approve of her relationship with Carter. He was nearly eight years older than her and well she just didn't want to risk him losing his job to her losing him. Call her selfish but she had learned on from an early age that her grandfather was not the type of Moroi that you wanted as an enemy. He was always sweet and kind to her but she had seen him slip a few times and she saw what her grandfather's wrath could inflict. She never wanted that to happen to Carter. She wouldn't let it happen to him.

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 **I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. There are a few plot changes to the original plot but there are only a small amount. More or less it will follow Richelle Mead story lines.**

 **Don't forget to leave a review.**


	2. Wishing on Dreams

**Hello to everyone and thank you so much to those who left a review. I loved reading all of them. I have responded to them below. Also** _Kumru_ **means Dove in Turkish. Sorry for any spelling or grammatical errors, my account was acting up last night and I just wanted to update the story.** _  
_

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 **RoseHthawayAndLissaDragomir-** _Thank you so much for you complement. I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much as the last._

 **Guest1-** _Thank you for your complement._

 **jessicadangerfield.9-** _Thank you._

 **Guest2-** _I'm glad that you liked the idea and I will continue with the story. I just happen to have the bad habit of losing inspiration and that causes me to be longer in the updates._

 **Beth324-** _I'm glad you think that this is a really cool idea. I hope that I can continue to update without the long waits for the next chapter. I do apologize for that._

 **Rose Thorn Catli-** _I'm happy that you absolutely loved the first chapter and I hope that the second one lives up to your expectations._

 **touls.h-** _Yes it definitely is, although I did not originally intend for that to happen. But I hope that even though it is similar it will be different, in other aspects, then that of her parents._

 **wiesemm-** _Well I'm glad that my story has grabbed your interests. I hope that this chapter grabs your interests as well._

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 **Re-cap**

 _ **Absent for the last eighteen years from Moroi society Guardian Rose Mazur, formerly Hathaway, has been living in Turkey with her mother and father and her seventeen year old daughter; Lily Mazur. Back at Court Lissa had become Queen and Dimitri has continued his task of being her Guardian. But each night, since Rose left, he had been haunted by her ghost. Lily is hiding her own secrets from her mother. She is in a secret relationship with her Guardian. Guardian Carter Wolf had been tasked with protecting her since she started High School and over time he fell in love with her as well.**_

 _ **It seems like history is going to be taking a U-turn down memory lane.**_

* * *

 **Lily's P.O.V**

Last night Carter and I slipped out of the party as soon as we could. Thankfully my two best friends were at the party and helped create a cover story of why we left so early, that was if anyone asked.

We didn't have to be home right away so Carter and I went to our secret place, hidden within the city streets. He walked along side me holding my hand, like we were any other normal couple. It was early in the Moroi world, which meant late in the Human world. Since I was still in school I was sleeping on the 'vampire time-table'; a joke that my mom had told me and I hadn't been able to get it out of my head. Even though I'm on summer break.

"I wish we could stay like this forever." I said softly, breaking the silence between us. I look up at Carter who was looking at me with a smile.

"Me too, but we both know that it's not possible." Carter said sadly, turning his head away from me and back to looking up at the sky. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at his statement.

"Why can't you just imagine something like this?" I asked Carter. I look at him with a raised eyebrow. He let out a sigh and with his free hand rubs it over her face. I wait for him to give me an answer. By now we had stopped walking. We were almost to our secret spot but I suddenly felt the urge to return to the party with my friends.

" _Kumru_ , please-" Carter started to say but I quickly pulled my hand out of his and took a step back.

"No Carter, you keep avoiding these kinds of questions; and there very simple questions too. You don't think I know the risks but I do." I shouted at him. "You keep forgetting that I'm a Dhampir just like you and Mom, someday soon I'll even have my own charge and then the risks won't be yours; they'll be mine." I look at Carter once more before turning around and walking back the way we had come. I didn't want to go to our secret place anymore. Carter had ruined the night and I was pissed at him.

I understood the seriousness of my duty towards the Moroi and I had accepted it a long time ago, even though my grandfather offered me another path to take I refused. I knew that as a Dhampir my life was sworn to protect the Moroi, long before I was born. And I was willing to take that risk; but because I knew that I wouldn't have long before those risks became real I tried to live my life to the fullest. Carter was just the last piece of the puzzle in my life.

When I met Carter he was this stiff, stern, cold, emotionless Dhampir. He was constantly in control of everything he did; the way he walked, the way he talked, the way he behaved around his peers and me, the ways he protected me, and even in the ways that he loved me. I mean he grew up in a shitty family. His father, like most of us, was a Moroi and his mother was a Dhampir. But his mother died when he was a young child and asked his father to take care of him. His father obliged and Carter was raised by his father and stepmother. He had five half-siblings, all girls. He was the oldest.

Anyways, his father was good to him but his stepmother resented him. He told me that his mother and father was very much in love and that his father was actually planning on marrying his mother but the then Queen, Queen Tatiana Ivashkov, discovered this and was not please. His father was a Royal from the Szelsky family, not that he was the Prince or anything but still. His stepmother resented him because he was the son that she never seemed to be able to give to his father.

So when Carter's father was away his stepmother would beat him. He had tried several times to tell his father what his stepmother did to him but his father never believed him. So when he was old enough, around twelve I believe, he asked to stay at St. Basil's year around. His father didn't ask why and allowed his only son, Carter, to stay at school. And that's how Carter came to be. Never really trusting people. Frankly I couldn't blame him at all.

I was so wrapped up in thoughts that I hadn't paid any mind to where I was going. Somehow I managed to walk myself to the seedy part of the city. While it was known to Humans as a 'gang activity' area it was actually where a lot of secret Moroi and Dhampir partying happened. Occasionally I would see Moroi men and Dhampir women go around back to another building. No need to ask what was happening in that building.

I shook my head and started to walk the other way, trying to get away from the building and back into the city. Suddenly I was approached by two males, obviously they were Dhampirs. They both had the build of a Dhampir, short hair, mostly black clothing, and the obvious; silver stakes at their side.

"Lily Mazur, you need to come with us." The taller Dhampir with blonde hair said to me. I eyed the Dhampir up and down. I didn't like the looks of how things were going.

"Who are you?" I asked, starting to back away from the two approaching Dhampirs. Instinctively my hands went straight to my purse. Obviously I didn't get a great vibe from either one of them.

"My name is Guardian Vetrov; this is Guardian Keating. You need to come with us." He said. I took another step back ready to attack the two so called 'Guardians'.

"Like hell I will." I said, I grabbed a retractable silver stake out of my purse and lunged forward towards Guardian Keating. Guardian Keating didn't look much older than me meaning he was a rookie Guardian, easier for me to take down. Guardian Vetrov was a harder to beat.

Keating blocked my hit, instead taking a hit to my side. I stumbled a little before gaining my footing again. Vetrov took several blows to my body, which I blocked a few but he was slightly strong than me. Either way I could still hold my own.

Thankfully there wasn't anyone else on the street but I wished that I hadn't walked away from Carter. I was still mad at him sure but it would've been nice to have back up, plus Mom and _Dede_ would kill him if they found out I got into a fight without Carter by my side.

Vetrov tried to kick my feet out from under me but I jumped over his failed attempt, which was not easy considering I was wearing heels. Keating kicked me in the side and I fell to the ground. I unlatched my purse's strap and spun around. The strap was actually a whip that I used sometimes. The end of my whip hit Vetrov on the side of his face and I took the chance of his surprised partner to kick Keating in the chin, effectively knocking him out cold. Vetrov flinched back once the whip had hit his cheek giving me enough time to stand up and immobilize him.

"Who sent you?" I asked harshly, grabbing the collar of Vetrov's jacket. Vetrov smirked at me.

"Tasha." Vetrov spat out. I glared at him in confusion.

"Who?" I asked. Vetrov grinned and shook his head.

"Ask your mother." My blood was boiling out of control. I couldn't stand looking at the smirk on his face so I threw one more final blow to his head knocking him unconscious.

I was shaken by the events that had just happened. I quickly ran down the rest of the street, ignoring the fact that my ankle and wrists were throbbing. I didn't stop running until I hit a more popular street with store lights on. I turned the corner and was immediately pushed up against the wall. I raised my hand to punch my attacker.

"Carter!" I screamed out when I realized who my attacker was. "What the hell were you thinking?!" Carter looked at me with concern in his eyes. I looked down at my appearance and realized that when I got knock down the street mud had gotten on my dress.

"What happened to you Lily?" Carter asked me. I shook my head and instead wrapped my arms around him. I hadn't realized until he asked me that I was scared of the attack. I always had Carter by my side and the fact that I managed to defend myself from two graduate Guardians and run away really scared me. I started to cry into his shoulder as I tried to tell him what had happened to me. I just wanted this nightmare to over with. I wanted to go home. I wanted my mom.

* * *

 **Third P.O.V**

"Dimitri," The Queen called out. Dimitri, still by the Queen's side, looked over to where the voice had called out for him.

"Your Majesty," Dimitri responded with formalities because they were out in public; and even though she had insisted for him to call her Lissa it was still looked down upon by other Royals for calling the Queen in such informal ways.

"You said you knew who Zmey was, right?" Lissa asked. Dimitri nodded his head. He was still skeptical about the infamous Zmey. He had heard the stories about this man when he was little. Everyone in his hometown knew better than to cross the Zmey. He was a powerful man.

"Barely, he does have his hand in such illegal activities that you have mentioned but everyone will be too scared to admit that they know." Dimitri once again warned Lissa. The Queen held back a groan of frustration. She needed to find someone that wasn't scared of him. She wanted to put him away.

"Thanks," Lissa said, dismissing Dimitri from her side. Dimitri fell back and said nothing more as Lissa and he walked through a large set of doors leading to the dining hall for the Royals.

Things had changed drastically when Lissa became Queen but there were still the small things that the Royals would not allow Lissa to change; such as the separation between Moroi and Dhampir dining halls. But even in the Moroi dining hall you had your Royal side and your non-royal side. Lissa had revoked the Dhampir age law that Queen Tatiana had placed before Lissa became Queen. She had created a new school where Moroi could learn how to fight alongside Dhampirs. Fire users were still as valuable as ever but the other elements soon found their own ways to help defeat Strigoi.

Dimitri was proud of the changes that the Queen had made to the Moroi world. Sure it took a while for the Moroi and Dhampir to get use to but in the end both of their numbers went up and threats of Strigoi attacks lessened. Dimitri had seen the change first hand sometimes. Since he was the Queen's Royal Guardian it made sense that he would see things first hand, even if he was trained to be a ghost for most of his life.

* * *

Later that evening, when Dimitri had switched out with Guardian Torres and Guardian Clay, he found himself walking the Court grounds like before. He did this almost every night, silently thinking to himself as he walked around with no real destination. Lately though his mind had always wandered to Rose. 'Roza' he thought to himself. Mentally he was hitting himself over and over again. He had treated her terribly; after all she had gone through to save him. She had gone through hell and back for him and he treated her like crap. But he thought he was doing what was best at the time. Only to later realize, and a bit to late at that, that he had made the biggest mistake of his life.

The last time he had seen Rose was when she, and Lissa, had been flown over to Court to receive their charges. At first he thought that Rose would get Lissa, like she had always talked about, but the night before the charges were announced Rose had gotten into a fight with Lissa and it didn't end well. The next day Rose's charge was announced to be Margret Mazur, allegedly the sister to Zmey. The whole room, filled with Dhampirs, was shocked. They all knew the story of the famous Rosemarie Hathaway and that she wouldn't take any other charge except Princess Vasilisa Dragomir, but she did get another charge and she didn't say anything. Rose walked up to the podium, accepted the file and then sat back down, barely blinking an eye.

He wondered what Rose looked like now. It had been nearly eighteen years since he saw his 'Roza'. What was she doing now? Where was she? That was the bigger question on everyone's mind.

However he was pulled away from his thoughts when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He hadn't realized that it was his friend Natasha Ozera, better known as Tasha.

"Hey Dimitri, you okay?" Tasha asked. Dimitri shook his head slightly, trying to focus back into reality. He looked down at the Royal he only ever regarded as a friend.

"Yes, I was just thinking." Dimitri said to Tasha. She didn't need him to say another word because she could see it on his face when she walked over. He was thinking about the past, but more importantly to her; he was thinking about Rose.

"It's in the past Dimitri, all of it. Even her." Tasha spoke cautiously. Dimitri almost glared at Tasha. He knew that she was right. Rose was in the past. She was gone. As far as he knew she would never be back, but there was the small part of him that always kept on wishing and hoping that she would come back.

"I know." Dimitri said, sighing in defeat. They both continued to walk around the grounds without any real aim. They made small talk but for the most part Dimitri was just answering Tasha's questions. Tasha was a good friend of his, one that he trusted. But he could never love her the way she loved him, and he knew it. That was one of the reasons why he had turned down her offer almost twenty years ago. The other reason he had refused Tasha's offer was because he was madly and deeply in love with Rose Hathaway, a girl seven years his junior and his student no less. It was all wrong, but Rose could see right through him like no one else could. She broke down the walls that he had created after the death of his friend and first charge, Ivan.

"Well I'll see you tomorrow." Tasha said. Dimitri stayed silent but nodded his head. Tasha reached up to his neck and placed a kiss on his lips. Dimitri made no efforts to kiss her back but Tasha didn't care. Dimitri gave her a short smile and Tasha turned to leave him in the middle of one of the Court's courtyards.

Dimitri may have not loved Tasha the same way that she loved him, but about two years ago he decided to give Tasha a chance. She accepted it gladly. She understood that there would always be a part of him that loved Rose, and it certainly made her jealous, but she did her best to accept the situation as it was. There was nothing she could do. Tasha tried all she could to push the memories of Rose out of Dimitri's head but nothing worked. They continued being in a 'casual' relationship. It wasn't what you'd expect in a relationship. Dimitri was always there for her, like a boyfriend should be, but he wasn't ever fully _there._

In the back of his mind, and heart, he was still pinning over Rose. She had broken down his walls and changed him, just like he had changed her, and then he let her slip through his fingers. He was an idiot, and he would admit it.

He walked back to his room and fell into his bed. He pulled open a draw on the bedside table. Inside the draw there was a picture of him and Rose, back in their days at the Academy. It was a surprise picture; one Adrian had taken and then later gave to Dimitri. He had his arms wrapped around Rose and they were both smiling. It looked like they didn't have a care in the world, like there was never a Strigoi threat looming over their heads or teenage drama and gossip.

Every time he looked at the photo he could remember what it was like to be with her. To suddenly lose control and give into his passions, to actually live, to know the risks and do them anyway because you'd be willing to take the chance even if you'd be the only one standing by them.

It also happened to be the only photo he had of her. If anything he protected that photo of her with his life.

He got up off the bed and changed into his pj's. He read his western book for a little while and then fell asleep, allowing his dreams to give him his pleasure of Roza but at the same time to torment him in the morning.

* * *

 **Lily's P.O.V**

Once we got home I went straight to my room, Carter following closely behind me. Thankfully we hadn't run into my mom. She would have asked a long string of question and I was not up for her interrogations, at least not right now. We did however get stopped by Guardian Hussein. He was the Guardian assigned to protect my mom, even though she didn't need one. He was a few years older than my mom but he was like a father to me. He had been with us since the beginning. He took care of me when I demanded it as a child but never complained. I really loved him. He was great. But for right now, that was a different story.

"Hey Uncle Adem," I said sheepishly as he looked me over head to toe, no doubt spotting the mud on my dress.

"You're up late." He noted. I nodded my head, currently to afraid to say anything.

"Guardian Mazur gave her permission to go to a friend's party." Carter said, coming to my aid. I smiled at Carter and then looked back to my 'Uncle'. He looked at me, as though we might have been lying.

"I was aware. I'm wondering how mud came to be on your dress Lily." This was not good. He never used my full name in that kind of tone, unless I was in trouble or he was being serious. I was hoping that it was the latter.

"I fell." I offered. Uncle Adem narrowed his eyes at the mud still on my dress. I was frozen in the spot. He could ask how I fell or other questions and I was hoping that he didn't. I was still shaken up from the events of tonight and really just wanted to climb in bed and go to sleep.

"Well I'm not surprised with those kinds of shoes." He jerked his head towards my heels and I shrugged my shoulders. At least he wasn't asking any questions that could possible lead to me getting into trouble, or Carter.

"Yeah, well I'm really tired so I'm gonna go to my room. Goodnight Uncle Adem." I said as I quickly walked past him to my room.

"I think you mean good morning." Uncle Adem said with a sly smile on his lips. I looked at the grandfather clock at the end of the hall and realized that he was right. It was nearly two o'clock in the morning. I gave him another sheepish smile and then continued towards my room.

Carter followed me inside, which wasn't weird at all considering his room was next doors to mine. Once we were both safely inside I went straight to my room and stripped out of the dress and changed into a bathrobe. I needed to take a shower. And clear my mind while I was at it. I walked over to my bathroom but realized that I had forgotten something back in my room. I rolled my eyes and started to walk back to my room but was stopped by Carter.

"What happened tonight Lily?" Carter asked. I looked at him, questioning whether or not he was joking with me.

"Seriously Carter? I told you everything. Please don't make me talk about it again. I don't even know what happened tonight. I-" Carter effectively cut me off by kissing me. I was dazed for a few seconds before returning the kiss but he was the one to pull away.

"That's not what I meant. What I meant was what happened between us?" Carter asked me. I rolled my eyes at him. Oh great we were back on that topic. I tried to shrug it off like it was no big deal.

"It doesn't matter now Carter. It's in the past" I try to push past him, but like always he saw right through my lie.

"Yes it does matter, to you at least. So therefore it matters to me as well. Please tell me; what's wrong Kumru?" I closed my eyes. I hated it when he used my nickname against me. We stayed silent for a minute or so but it felt like it was so much longer. Finally I gave up and let out a loud sigh, breaking the silence between us.

"I just don't understand you sometimes and I hate it. Why can't you just imagine what the future will be like?" I asked him. He and I both knew that this was something more than just daydreaming of our futures.

"You can't just let yourself be normal for once. I'm not Moroi Carter. I know how to fight. You don't need to be this ridged Guardian of mine all the time. The only reason you're my Guardian is because of my grandfather." I said the last bit harsher than I meant it to sound. But like always Carter took it in strides. He didn't say anything or flinch. I knew that he knew that I needed to rant. It was something that happened often.

"And?" Carter said, raising an eyebrow. I let out a defeated sigh and looked him in the eye.

"And because of whom my father is."

* * *

 **And that's where we end the second chapter. I hope you enjoyed reading. Please don't forget to leave a review. If any question are asked in the review they will be answered in the next chapter. If they are asked by PM they will be answered in the same fashion.**


	3. Four Lives

**Hey, so here the third Chapter. I hope you like it just as much as the first and second. This also happens to be the longest chapter that I have ever written so I hope that you enjoy it, cause I did work my fingers to the bone. More or less. Sorry for any spelling or grammatical errors. Now on to address the reviews.**

* * *

 **Guest1-** _When I first read your review I actually laughed. I found it to be very funny. I don't care if you don't like that I jumped twenty years ahead. I don't care if you think that Dimitri is 'banging' Tasha, cause your wrong. I never said that. I don't care if your not interested in reading further because anything like what I am writing it going to have it's heartbreaking back story. While some of your rather sketchy summaries of what's going to happen are true, you're only shooting in half of the range not the full range. Dimitri's relationship with Tasha is not a lust or love. It's kind of like a mutual friendship love relationship. Yes Rose did save Dimitri and yes in the end all she got was to be a single mother but Dimitri did not give Tasha his time or body, cause once again you are wrong._

 _Not sure how you came up with the Masochist idea and I'm not trying to get you off on stories like mine. If *they're too depressing for you, I have a solution. Don't read them. Simple as that._

 **Jess-KiwiGirl14-** _I'm glad that you love the story. I will try to pick up the pace just a little; the reason that it's going so slow is because with stories that I've written before everything was happening way to fast for my liking so I try and slow things down and evenly space them out. Hey, also it's totally okay to have a mind blank. I get them all the time, whether with writing or in real life._

 **emadoll616-** _Thanks, I hope that this chapter will meet your expectations._

 **Promise Me You'll Love Me-** _I hope that this chapter also meets your expectations._

 **Guest2-** _I'm glad that you like my story. I'm sorry to say that there isn't a lot of Rose and Lily moments in this chapter but hopefully they will show up in the next chapter. I'm planning on showing off their relationship and how it's very different to that of Rose and Janine. Also Tasha will be playing a very interesting role in this story. Like I said before, my story does follow the majority of Ms. Mead but it is slightly different due to Artistic licenses and a whole bunch of other crap._

 **swimmer07-** _I'm glad that you like it so far and I hope that you will_ _continue to like the rest of the chapters that I post up._

 **Jannyg92-** _I have finally updated. I hope you're not to mad at me and that you've survived the waiting ordeal. Thank you for saying that and I'm very very happy that you are enjoying my story. I hope that this chapter excites you as much as the last two chapter seemed to have done for you. So without further ado, here's the next chapter for you to read. Enjoy._

* * *

 **Re-Cap**

 **Lily is your typical seventeen year old girl. She has friends and a loving family. She know her life is dedicated to protecting the Moroi and she's accepted that. But before she takes on the real role of being someone's Guardian she's living life to the fullest. Meaning going to a friend's party. But on the way back home, after getting into a fight with her secret boyfriend/ Guardian Carter Wolf, she's attacked. It's a harsh wake up call to her reality that she'll soon be living.**

 **Meanwhile back at Court Dimitri is assisting the Queen in anyway that he can with her case against the infamous Zmey. But at the same time he is still haunted by Rose's ghost. He knows that he should try and move on. So he's been in a 'casual relationship' with his childhood friend Tasha Ozera for the past two years. Now she knows she'll never be able to compete with the memories of Rose but that doesn't mean she isn't trying to.**

 **Both worlds are at opposite ends but somehow they're both connected. The question now is, How are they connected? Well they're both Wishing On Dreams. Can those Dreams come true or will they forever be trapped in their heads.**

* * *

 **Rose's P.O.V**

 _"Roza," a voice mutters out, continuously like a prayer. My blood ran cold as I continued to hear the voice but see no face. I didn't need a face to know who was saying my name; the name that has haunted me for the past twenty years of my life._

 _My breathing was slowly becoming heavy and steady as I looked around for the face I knew belonged to the voice. The enchantment of my name on his lips made me remember the moments in time that I had forced myself to forget years ago._

 _"Dimitri?" I questioned out loud. Even though I knew I didn't need to see a face I need conformation that it was him that was calling out to me._

 _"Roza, oh Roza; My Roza." Dimitri's face soon came to light and his voice became possessive. I smiled at him and ran towards his open and awaiting arms. His embrace was enough for me to lose myself in the memories that I once thought impossible. He kissed my forehead and raised my head to look him in the eye. The small smirk that I loved was playing itself across his lips._

 _"It's been so long." Dimitri murmurs out. I couldn't force myself to form the words that I had wanted to say so I nodded my head instead._

 _"Why haven't you contacted me?" Dimitri's voice was full of concern and worry. I avoid direct eye contact with him, afraid that he'll read me like an open book he always had. The words were spinning in my head and yet I still couldn't form a sentence to come out of my mouth._

 _"I still love you." Dimitri declares. I quickly look up at him in surprise. Suddenly there was a long list of witty comeback that I could throw at him on my tongue._

 _"That's rich, coming from you." I spat out. My voice grew hard and I pulled myself out of the embrace that I had once loved more than anything. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to compensate for the loss of his warmth._

 _"You don't?" Dimitri asked. I raised an eyebrow at him. He shouldn't have to ask me that kind of question. He shouldn't ask me to answer the question that he already had the answer to. He was the one that broke things off and I still tried to repair what we had but in the end it wasn't enough to save what was left of us._

 _"Love fades, mine has." I tell him. "Remember that?" I ask. He winced at my words. He shouldn't; he was the one who said them. Not me. I glared at him and suddenly the same emotions from twenty years ago come rushing back into my mind._

 _I was angry and confused, hurt and sad. How could he do something like that to me? He trained me, guided me, comforted me, supported me, and we allowed ourselves to fall in love with each other; even when we knew what we were risking. Then I ran off to 'save' him, to keep the silent promise that we had made to each other in the van; and I almost succeed. But when I get the second chance to actually_ save _him, he claims that it was Lissa who saved him. The anger coursing through my body is hard to hide, even with years of training._

 _"It should, you said those words to me that night in the church. Not me. All I was trying to do was help, but you only pushed me away. As if none of what we had was real, like I was just something to pass the time." I growled out. My anger and hurt were leading my broken heart to say the words that I had wanted to say for so many years._

 _"I was the one who saved you Dimitri. I was the one who freed Victor Dashkov, my worst enemy, to get the information of how to restore you. I was the one who pushed Lissa to learn how to charm silver. I was the one who went after you, from Baia and back, to keep my promise to you. I was the one who did all of that. I was the one who saved you, not Lissa." I shouted out at him. It was all true and he knew it._

 _All Lissa did was drive the silver stake into his chest, deep enough to pierce his heart, and returned him to his Dhampir self. But I was the one who went through hell and back to get the information to restore him. I was the one who had their heart broken and stomped on. I was the one who, despite all efforts from my friends, went after Strigoi Dimitri. And yet I was the one, who in the end, was treated like I had done nothing to help the great miraculous cause._

 _I was breathing heavily from my anger induced rant. I kept a constant glare on him, not letting him within four feet of me. I couldn't handle all of this._

 _"I'm sorry," Dimitri muttered out. At this point I thought it was just best if he didn't talk to me at all._

 _"You're sorry?!" I screamed out at him. "You're sorry that I went after you and turned you back into a Dhampir? You're sorry that I was the one who tried, no matter what happened, relentlessly to convince others that you no longer Strigoi? Or are you sorry that I gave you my heart and you broke it, not caring what happened to me afterwards?" I voiced out loudly. I was disgusted at the man that I had once loved._

 _I fell in love with a man that I knew I wasn't supposed to love but I did. I fell in love with a man, who I knew felt the same way about me; who despite our best efforts was the best thing that had ever happened to me. And I was disgusted by the man that I now saw before me._

 _"After all of this that's the best you can say? 'I'm sorry'?" I shouted out. I shook my head at him, out of disappointment, out of anger, out of hurt, and possibly out of confusion._

 _"How about you go back to pretending that you don't love me? You did a great job of that the last time." I spat out at him. I started to walk away from him but something was stopping me. Well not something, more like someone._

 _"Lissa?" I questioned out, not believing my eyes of the person who stood before me._

 _"Hi Rose," Lissa gave me a friendly smile. The truth was I could never stay mad at her forever but I still couldn't forgive her for what she said to me the night before the Charge Announcements._

 _"What are you doing here?" I asked her. She gave me a knowing look and motioned with her hands for me to look around myself. Suddenly I became aware of my surroundings. I had been too high on my anger and hurt that I hadn't realized that I was standing in the church at Court._

 _"You can dream walk now?" I ask her in complete shock. The last time I had seen her she was struggling to grasp the concept of how to even do it. Now she was walking in my dreams._

 _"It's been a long time Rose. I've been doing this for the past ten years. Of course you wouldn't know that." Lissa voice was laced with hurt, sadness, and anger. I let out a soft sigh, not really wanting to acknowledge the fact that I had been absent from her life for the past eighteen years._

 _"Why are you doing this Lissa? I thought we both agreed that we didn't want to talk with each other anymore." I said to her. Her eyes glazed over at the memory of our fight, the night before our lives changed forever._

 _"Rose please; come home." Lissa begged. I looked at her. The same Dragomir jade green eyes plead with me silently, asking me to return to the life that I had escaped so long ago. I bite down on my lip, trying to think if I really wanted to return to that life at all. I shook my head at the end of my inner fight._

 _"Lissa you know why I can't. Why I won't go back." Lissa's face drops for a moment before perking up at a sight behind me. She smiles at the sight and then turns her gaze back to me. I look at her with questions on the tip of my tongue but I never make it that far before I feel a familiar presence behind me._

 _"Dimitri?" I question out loud. I was shocked. Not only had she managed to walk into my dreams but she managed to pull Dimitri into our dream walk._

 _"What are you doing here?" I asked him, backing away from the man that I had once thought the world of. I still didn't trust him and if he was in my dreams did that mean that Lissa was there as well? Had she heard my rant? My mind was buzzing with questions and confusion before Lissa answered some of my unspoken questions._

 _"I brought him here Rose. I was here since the beginning and yes I heard everything." I turned to look back at Lissa like she was crazy; and maybe she was or wasn't._

 _"Why did you bring him here?" I questioned Lissa, my voice becoming more accusing then friendly._

 _"Because we need you back Rose. I miss you, Dimitri misses you, hell even Christian misses you." Lissa practically screamed out. I looked at Lissa in shock. She hadn't ever been the one to curse a lot. I let out a soft laugh at her expression. I did miss her, a lot. Heck, even Sparky; but that was a different story altogether._

 _Suddenly my harsh reality hit me like a ton of bricks. I couldn't just up and leave my family, not when I finally had a relationship with my Mom and Dad, especially since I have Lily now. My life was in Turkey now, not at Court._

 _"I can't Lissa. It's more complicated than the fact that I don't want to see Dimitri. I have a life now, where I live. I have a real relationship with my Mom and Dad. And I have someone I love." I said the last part softly so that Dimitri wouldn't hear me but since Lissa was closer, and since she was Moroi, she could hear me crystal clear. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened in shock._

 _Maybe it was better for them, and me, if they believed that I had a lover somewhere instead of telling them that I had a daughter. I bit down on my lower lip as I watched Lissa make sense of this new information that I had just given her._

 _"Roza," the deep voice that I had missed so much spoke my name. I had nearly forgotten that Dimitri was only several feet away from us in the church. Once again my blood ran cold as I heard him call me once more. Before facing him I grew stiff, I wouldn't let him see how much I had wanted to kiss him when I was in his arms._

 _"Dimitri," I greeted. I forced myself to look him in the eye. I wouldn't show him any sign of weakness, even though the only weakness I ever had was standing right in front of me._

 _"Please come home." Dimitri's voice begged me. I was taken back by his behavior. I had rarely, if never, heard or seen Dimitri Belikov beg. It broke down my façade for a moment, but it seemed that a moment was all Dimitri needed before shocking me once more._

 _He kissed me, roughly and passionately; with the same enthusiasm as the nights and moments we had been able to steal all those years ago. I nearly buckled under the amount of emotions that had been poured into this one kiss. It was enough, though, to drive me wild for the man I claimed to no longer love._

 _I pulled away from him and stared at him like he was crazy. Lissa was still standing behind us but was instead looking at the church walls. I covered my mouth with my hands in horror. Not by the action but by what the action meant, to him; to me. I shook my head when I looked at him but unwilling to look him directly in the eyes._

 _"I can't. I won't go to Court Dimitri. I have a life, away from Court, away from that drama. I have my Mom and Dad out there. I have my charge. I can't just leave all of them on a whim. I'm not coming back." I said with finality. I turned around to get Lissa attention but a hand stopped me._

 _"I'm sorry, Roza. Please believe me. I thought I was doing what was best." Dimitri defended. I shook my head at him once more. He still didn't get it._

 _"No you weren't. I was the only one, besides Lissa, that was willingly treating you like you were a Dhampir again, like you were your old self; not some Strigoi Dhampir changeling." I scolded him. His looked like a kicked puppy and for a moment I was tempted by the thought of touching his face but I held back the urge to comfort him._

 _"I was trying to help you make sense of what we both didn't understand but I was willing to try. You, instead, pushed me farther and farther away. And you know what? That's fine with me. I'm happy now. So please don't ruin this as well." I softly begged, hoping that he would just accept the fact that I didn't want to go back to my old life. I couldn't go back to my old life. It was simply impossible for me to go back. The past was in the past. It was done and gone and we couldn't change anything about it._

 _"Roza, please," again he begged me, Pleading desperately from his eyes alone to change my mind but I couldn't. I knew that well enough. My eyes grew to the Guardian cold that I had learned over the years._

 _"Don't call me Roza. I'm not yours. I never was, apparently." I turned away from him and walked over to Lissa. She seemed to know what I would ask before the words left my lips._

 _"I will Rose, but please think about this. Please come home." Lissa begged me. It nearly broke my heart to see her so sad but I couldn't confront those demons just yet._

 _"You don't get it. I am home." I tell them both, moments before they disappear from my vision and I returned to my own controlled dream._

* * *

I woke up with a start, sitting up in my bed. The cool breeze from the open window sent shivers down my spine. I couldn't believe my dream. I didn't want to believe my dream. It had been so long since I had any contact with Lissa, or really anyone from the States; Adrian had stopped visiting me after I told him that I wouldn't tell him where I was.

I crawled out of bed and wrapped a light sweater around me. It was slightly humid but I felt cold after Lissa's dream visit. Trying to clear my head I walked out of my bedroom and down towards Lily's suite. Thankfully her room wasn't too far from mine but I wasn't in any rush either.

I opened to door as quietly as I could and looked around. Guardian Wolf was sleeping with his door open. I smirked down at him; there were some moments where I could have sworn he was related to Dimitri but I knew that was impossible.

I peered into Lily's room as well, checking that my daughter was actually asleep and not trying to do crazy things. I smiled at my daughter's sleeping form. There had been so many times where I wished I could tell her about her father but I also knew that there might be a part of her that was better off being ignorant of her true parentage. While Lily did look a lot like me when I was younger she also took after some of Dimitri's personality. She was strong willed, stubborn, controlling when need be, and many more. I wish that Dimitri had been here to see her grow up. I could hear his voice, even now, teasing me about how she and I are so much alike it scared him. I'd roll my eyes and smack his chest but smile and laugh at his teasing manner anyways.

Lily was the one good thing that came into my life after it was turned upside down. I graduated St. Vladimir's shortly after Dimitri had been turned back to a Dhampir and was sent to Moroi Court to receive my charge. I honestly don't know how I managed to keep myself together for the month that we were all at Court. Not only were there St. Vladimir students but students from St. Basil, St. Maria, Alden, Romanian Prep, and like three others were all there. I'm surprised it didn't take three more months. All of the Dhampir students were there, like all eight hundred of us. Then there were the Moroi getting Guardians.

I remember being so adamant to get Lissa as my charge but as fate would have it; that never happened. We had gotten into a fight about Dimitri. I was mad at her for not letting me see him. She didn't even try to convince him. It was driving me insane. I knew that the transition from Dhampir to Strigoi to Dhampir again wasn't an easy thing. I was just trying to be there for him, like a friend but he kept pushing me away. Why, I didn't know? Frankly I still think I don't know why I was being pushed away until tonight. Some of what Dimitri had explained to me in my dream made sense but he had also cut the cord of any attempts to be in my life again.

Lissa was mad at me for not understanding why Dimitri didn't want to see me. She kept saying that I would know why Dimitri didn't want to see me. At first I really didn't know why. But two nights before the Charge Announcements I finally figured it out. Dimitri had been beating himself over for what he did to me while he held me prisoner. But I tried to tell Lissa that I didn't hold him accountable for any of that because I knew it wasn't him that did those things to me. He wasn't the same person. I forgave him, but still he refused to see me and it drove me crazy. I was jealous of Lissa sure but at the same time I really hated Dimitri in that moment. Finally the day came for Charges to be assigned and I got my Aunt. I didn't make any objections but I could see Lissa was hurt. I didn't need the bond to tell me that she felt betrayed and angry at me. But at the moment I didn't care. I was still mad at her from the night before.

Shortly after I left with my Aunt I realized that I was pregnant. By then I had fallen into the role of being Guardian for my Aunt, much to her objections. I hadn't realized that I was pregnant till my mom said something about my sicknesses. She then dragged me to a private doctor and they confirmed what my mom had been worried about. Ten months later Lily came into my life and the missing hole in my heart was filled the instant I held her in my arms.

She gave me the strength that I need at the time and still continues to be my strength in times of need.

After assuring myself that my life wasn't falling apart and that Lily was okay I went downstairs to the kitchen to grab something to eat. Even after eighteen years my appetite hadn't diminished. I had expected to be alone in the kitchen but was pleasantly surprised my Adem; my closest friend and Guardian. He was three years older than me but sometimes I felt like he was older.

"You're up early." I stated. The fact was it was actually like five in the afternoon- early in the Moroi world- though my sleeping had been thrown off really badly since Lily came home for summer break. Adem shrugged his shoulders.

"So are you." Adem countered back. I stifled a yawn but said nothing. Adem looked me over head to toe. I was still wearing my pj's and sweater. I shrugged my shoulders at him. Adem gave me a lazy grin and pulled out the chair next to him. I walked over and sat down.

"Having trouble sleeping?" Adem asked me. I reluctantly looked at Adem after a few seconds had passed. I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell him the truth or just lie to him. Honestly I could have lied but Adem was someone who I just couldn't stand lying to.

"Not really," I whispered out. I focused my gaze at my hands before speaking again. "Lissa managed to walk into my dream." I mumbled out. I bit down on my lower lip. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Adem shift ever so slightly. I knew he wanted to say something but was waiting in case I felt like adding. I shook my head and he opened his mouth to speak.

"It's been eighteen years _Serebro_. I think you've tortured them long enough. You can't keep Lily a secret from them forever; no matter how hard you try." Adem tells me. I look up at him, wanting to show my anger and disgust over his words; but the features never surface. Instead they are replaced by fear and hurt.

Lily had always asked who her father was; automatically assuming that he would be Moroi – royal or not. I, however, didn't have the heart to tell her that her father was a Dhampir, like her and me, who also happened to be Strigoi once upon a time. Some things from my past I didn't think she would be ready to handle. And I knew my daughter well. She could handle most situations like her father had been able to, but something as damming as her parentage could throw her for an unsteady loop. And I was not willing to let her go through that.

"Maybe someday I won't have to. Adem, you know why I left; why I can't go back. Things aren't as simple as they used to be." I said, though my life never had been easy in the first place.

"I've hurt too many people to get here. I don't want to dig up old ghosts." I whispered out. Adem's hand snaked their way under my chin and forced me to look at him in the eyes.

" _Serebro_ , confront your demons now before they tear you apart from the inside out." Adem said to me. He looked at me with the 'tough love' look and I knew that he was right. I had hidden from the world, running away from my problems, long enough. I was too scared, which was so unlike me.

"I know."

* * *

 **Lily's P.O.V**

"Again," his voice demands of me. I'm already breathing heavily and dripping in sweat and seriously was thinking about calling it quits. But pride wouldn't let me. So once more I was doing a complicated combination that Carter had me doing to some poor dummy.

I did a double back kick before landing a series of blows to the dummy's chest, shoulders and face. Then moving from the dummy to Carter we continued our sparring session like usual. Hit, dodge, kick, block, etc. My mind was racing as my hand tightened its grip on my dull stake. Attack from the top, in a downward motion, block the defense, knee the attacker in the stomach, hit the side of their face, use their weight against them, trip the attacker and stake them from the back.

I was breathing heavily after we finished but it was all worth it when I saw that Carter was smiling at me; a rarity. I let him up and walked over to grab my water bottle. What I didn't expect was Carter trying to do a sneak attack on me. But thanks to my hearing I heard the nearly silent footfalls. I quickly turned around and braced myself for the attack. He lunged for my mid-section and knocked me to the ground. I twisted his left hand so that I could lean up far enough to elbow him on the right side of his face. He fell over to his side and then I climbed on top of him to immobilize the threat.

"Second time this week." I panted out. Carter, once again, looked at me slightly shocked but he didn't say anything. I then realized that I had pinned his hands down and was straddling him. My smile slowly started to fade and I was at a loss for words. My eyes flickered all over Carter's face. He was hard to read but not impossible. And his tell-tale signs were always his eyes. His eyes scanned over my face and for a small moment landed on my lips, which I had subconsciously been biting down on.

Suddenly he leaned up and gave me a kiss. For a quick second I had thought about pulling away, initially because I was shocked. We, mostly him, had never done something like this in a public area; especially not in my house gym. But I decided against my initial thought and kissed him back, releasing my grip on his wrist and holding his face. His hands wrapped themselves around my torso and pulled me closer to him as he sat up. I made no objections. I hadn't kissed him in like two weeks, since the party.

Actually since that night I had asked Carter to teach me more than what I had learned at school. Sure I was a good fighter but I had only ever taken on one person at a time, not two at once. It had scared me. I had told my mom but I didn't tell her about the person named Tasha. Still I thought the name was just a ghost, something or someone that didn't actually exist.

Carter's hands rested on my hips as he started to lean in deeper in the kiss. I would have let him but suddenly I pulled away. I don't know why I did that but I did and I saw a quick flash of hurt in Carter's eyes before his Guardian mask fell back into place. 'Damn,' I thought. We were both breathing heavily, like we had just run a marathon. We kind of did but not in the same sense.

"Sorry," I said first, before Carter had the chance to open his mouth and say something. I knew what he was going to say anyways so it wouldn't have mattered to me. We both knew that what we were doing was wrong, in so many ways; and as of right now very illegal.

"I should go change." I muttered out as I scrambled to get out of his embrace and grab my gym bag. I practically stumbled out of the gym and ran to my room. I need a cold shower. My heart was racing to an insane beat and I almost felt light headed, which wasn't ever good.

"Lily, there you are." A voice called out my name. I froze for a quick second before recognizing the voice as my mother. I turned around to face her. She was wearing her Guardian uniform, which were sign that something was up. I looked at her expectantly. I was waiting for her to ask me whatever it was that she was going to ask me.

"Hi Mom," I greeted as I realized she was waiting for me to respond. She smiled at me as she looked me over, probably happy that I had just finished training with Carter.

"I have some news for you." Mom started off, nervously biting her lip; a bad habit that I somehow inherited. I raised an eyebrow at my mother, waiting for her to finish her sentence.

"We're going to Court." She told me. I nodded my head at her information, not really surprised.

"Okay, how long are you guys going to be gone?" I asked, thinking that the group going to Court consisted of Uncle Adem, Mom, _Dede_ , _Avoa_ , and Great Aunt Maggie. But Mom shook her head at me. Okay now I was really confused.

"We're all going to Court, Lily. You're coming with us."

* * *

 **So here we come, once again, to the end of the third Chapter. I hope that you enjoyed it as much as the first two. I must mention that I did update Chapter two. I wasn't able to finish editing the chapter at the time cause I was so anxious for you guys to be able to read it and the accounts were acting up and I tried to save it but the account was blocked and so I lost my progress. But in the meantime, between me writing the next chapter and editing it, you could re-read the second Chapter. Hopefully it may fill in some of the blanks that weren't explained the first time you read it. Don't forget to leave a review if you like the story, if not oh well; that's not my problem and you don't have to leave a review.  
**

 _Serebro_ **means Silver in Russian. This is a reference to Rose's usage of the Silver Stake.** _  
_

 _Dede_ **means grandfather in Turkish.**

 _Avoa_ **means grandmother in Galician.**


	4. New Times and Old Faces

**Hey, so here the fourth Chapter. I hope that you enjoy it, cause I did work my fingers to the bone. More or less. Sorry for any spelling or grammatical errors. Now on to address the reviews.**

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 **Janny92 -** _I hope I didn't make you wait to long. I feel like I made you wait to long. I feel like I took to long to update. But compared to my other stories I've been spoiling you guys so I hope you enjoy the fourth chapter just as much as you've enjoyed the other._

 **jessicdangerfeild.9 -** _I hope that this meets some of your expectations of their meeting. I know that it won't meet all of them but this is how I ended up writing it. Please enjoy. Also I don't know why fanfic keeps cutting up your name every time I type it in, it just cuts off every thing else and leaves the 9 at the end.  
_

 **Ponker12345 -** _I hope that this update is the kind of "more" that you wanted._

 **swimmer07 -** _I hope that this is equally as amazing or more as the others have been for you._

 **Promise Me You'll Love Me -** _Thanks for that comment. I hope that this chapter meets the expectation that you have set me to. I hope that I didn't disappoint._

 **jpitt -** _I'm glad that you like the story and that you're enjoying it. This probably isn't the kind of meeting that you were hoping for but there will be more soon. I will be going into the whole Lissa and Dimitri meeting Lily thing a lot more soon. That I can promise._

 **Guest1 -** _I'm glad that you think that the last chapter was great. I hope that this one meets your standards as well._

 **Guest2 -** _I hope that it will continue to be amazing, as you say it is; and I'm flattered you think so. I don't know how the whole gmail account issue is going but I hope it's not a bad thing that you'll be sucked back into my story._

 **Orangeragdoll -** _I'll take you comment as a good thing because of the exclamation point that was at the end of your review. I hope that this matches whatever that exclamation point meant. Assuming that it meant a good thing. Enjoy._

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 **Re-Cap**

 _ **Rose dreams of Dimitri, at first thinking that this was her own dream, but soon realizing that her best friend, Lissa Queen of the Moroi, has actually dreamed walked into her dream bringing along the real Dimitri. She gets into a fight with Dimitri in the Church that changed her life forever. Lissa begs her best friend to come back to Court but Rose refuses to go back. Rose insists that she is happy with her life where she is. When she wakes up from the dream visit she goes down to Lily's room and reminisces about how her life has changed some for the worst but most for the best.**_ _ **Her closest friend, Adem Hussein, talks to her. Telling her that she can't keep her secrets forever.**_

 _ **Lily is facing her own problems as she trains with Carter. An unexpected kiss leads to an awkward tension growing between them as Rose drops a bombshell of news on to her daughter. The family is going to Court, and Lily is coming along for the ride.**_

* * *

 **Lily's P.O.V** _ **  
**_

"What!?" a loud shriek cried out. My eyes widened at the sound and I stared intently at my best friend. My best friend, Svetlana Dover better known as Lana, had her eyes practically popping out of her head. She had always wanted to go to Court before graduation. She was a Moroi so she'd go to Court no matter what but still she drove me insane. I loved her though, maybe too much.

"I'm leaving for Court tomorrow morning. Mom told me we're all going." I explained once again to Lana. She glared at me and I rolled my eyes at her.

"Hey don't be too happy for me. I've wanted to go just as much as you but with Senior year right around the corner I want to spend as much time with Carter as possible." I confessed to my friend. She looked at me with sympathetic eyes. I couldn't keep my love life a secret from her, even though I did try. She found out about Carter and I by accident. I forgot that I had made plans with her to hang out together one afternoon and she kind of walked in on Carter and I making out. It was really awkward and actually Lana still teases Carter about it all the time but she would never tell another soul.

"Hey maybe you can convince your mom to bring me along. That way you won't have to spend your time moping around." Lana joked with me. I rolled my eyes at her and shoved her away from me. We both ended up laughing though. I shook my head at her.

"I don't know Lana. I don't think mom has forgiven you for the last time." I said raising an eyebrow at her. Lana gave me an exasperated look. I tried my best to hide my smile at her expression.

"That was one time. One time. I said I was sorry too." I finally let out my laugh and Lana walked over and shoved me off my bed. But I continued to laugh at her and Lana continued to glare at me.

"If you want to come ask mom; not me." I said. Lana walked out of my room, with her arms crossed, and determination dancing in her eyes. I knew right away that she was going straight to my mom and ask. I'd be very surprised if mom agreed to let Lana come with us. As far as I knew the trip to Court was an official business trip, not a social call. So that meant I couldn't bring any friends. Hopefully mom would make an exception just this once.

A knock came from the other side of the room. I instantly knew who it was.

"Come in Carter." I called out. He walked in, closing the door behind him and stood in front of me. Things had become a little awkward between us since we kissed the other day in the gym. Why? I don't know and I wish they weren't. But he had that special ability to make things really awkward between us.

"Did mom send you?" I asked, trying to break the uncomfortable silence between us. Carter shook his head. I nodded my head and then stared down at my hands. I heard Carter take a step towards me and grab my hands.

"Kumru…" Carter started to say but was abruptly cut off by the sound of my door opening. Lana had come back with a big grin on her face. Now I was starting to worry.

"Good news, I'm coming with you; sucker." Lana said, not even noticing that she had broken apart a intimate moment. I dropped my hands from Carter's grasp and glared at Lana. She had that stupid smile on her face and Carter was too embarrassed to look up. Even though he knew that Lana knew about us, he was never really comfortable with her out-going nature like I was.

"Did I interrupt something?" Lana asked stupidly. I rolled my eyes at her and let out sigh. It was too late to talk to Carter, the moment was gone.

"Not anymore." I told her. She bit down on her lip and stood in the middle of my room. Carter had taken to role of my Guardian now, even though he knows that when Lana was around he didn't need to.

"So…." Lana said, rocking back and forth on her heels. God, why did it have to be so awkward now?

"You better go pack now. You can sleep over, we leave in the morning." I told Lana. She nodded her head and then promptly left the room. I looked over to Carter, but he hasn't moved an inch. I get up from my bed and walk over to him. His mask is in place but I wanted nothing more than to just tear the mask apart and refuse to let him wear it ever again.

"Carter, please talk to me." I pleaded. His eyes flicker over my face and for a brief moment he isn't my Guardian; he's my boyfriend. He's the Carter Wolf that I fell in love with my sophomore summer.

"I'm sorry about the kiss-" Carter started to say. I cut him off by kissing him again. Didn't he understand that I loved him and any kiss that happened between us was perfectly fine, in a sense.

"I'm not. And you be shouldn't either. Carter I love you. You know that; don't ever apologize for kissing me. I should be the one saying sorry. I didn't mean to put you in that awkward position." I told him. Carter let out a sigh and finally dropped his Guardian mask.

"Kumru, it wasn't your fault. I attacked you and you were just doing what you were trained to do. Taking down a threat." Carter said. I rolled my eyes at him. 'Seriously Carter?!' I screamed in my head.

"That doesn't change anything between us though. I know the situation we're in is hard Carter but please know that I do love you." I tell him. Carter's face flashes over with guilt and I kind of wanted to slap him for that. I looked at him in the eyes and leaned in to give him another kiss, thankfully this time he returned the kiss. I pressed him up against the wall and ran my fingers through his hair. I felt his hands hesitate on my hips and I could practically hear him debate about his next move. So to persuade him towards my side I opened my mouth, granting him the access that I knew he would eventually be begging for.

His hands moved from my hips to the small of my back, pressing me closer to him. I tired, and failed, to hold back a moan. I could feel Carter's excitement against my thigh and that only made me want him more. I pulled my head away to catch my breath but that didn't slow Carter down. He moved his lips from mine to my neck, kissing my weak spot causing me to almost lose my footing. Thankfully Carter was holding me so that never happened.

I closed my hand in his hair, causing me to gently tug his hair. His hand ghosted over the slit on my long skirt, nearly causing me to beg him to stop thinking about so many things and just kiss me again.

"Kumru…." Carter spoke breathlessly. I opened my eyes and saw him looking at me like he was begging for permission. My breathing, I realized, was heavy and erratic as was my heart. I couldn't form the words but I knew that we both wanted this. I nodded my head and Carter's hand slipped under the slit of my skirt and lifted me up so I could wrap my arms and legs around him. He walked us over to my bed, which thankfully was clear of clothes and other junk.

He laid me gently on my bed as he continued to kiss me on my lips and neck. But suddenly I remember something. I pushed Carter away and quickly got back on my feet. I could sense that Carter was confused. The poor man. I smiled at him and placed my finger on my lips, in a silencing motion, before walking over to my doors and locking them. Carter's smile, which strangely enough I hadn't noticed before, grew wider as I walked back over to him. He was currently sitting on my bed and was wearing the harsh reminder of our reality. I didn't want to be reminded of that right now; this moment was our escape from reality.

I stood in front of him and ran my hands under his jacket, slipping it off his shoulder and throwing it carelessly onto a nearby chair. His hands were gripping my hips. I smiled at him and leaned down to give him a kiss. One of his hands went straight to my hair, pulling me closer to him.

This wasn't my first time having sex. I has lost my virginity to my ex-boyfriend, who at the time I did love so I never found anything wrong with that but he wasn't as good as Carter.

All the tension that had built up over the past two weeks between us vanished within a matter of seconds. I didn't mind and I knew Carter didn't either. Honestly I hated fighting with Carter. Sometimes I did feel like he treated me like a child and that he only ever saw me as a child. But he wasn't much different from me in many ways.

Mom said that I'm like my father in so many ways, whoever he is? She told me that I like to be in control of things, my emotions mainly, and that I have the tendencies to get into trouble but always take responsibility for it. And even when I have control over most things in my life sometimes I just don't want to be in control. But I have a temper that matches hers' and Avoa. I can't say anything about my father's traits because well I don't know him. Simple as that.

I looked over at the clock on my bedside table and saw that it was mid-afternoon. Lana left around noon so that meant that she would be back soon. I didn't want to move from Carter's side. He was playing with my hair, something that always seemed to amuse him, and drawing lazy patterns on my shoulder.

"We should probably get dressed," I said hesitantly. I knew that Carter would agree; so before he could even say a word I swung my legs over the side of my bed and wrapped the bed sheets around me. But Carter's hand stopped me from leaving the bed. I turned around and saw Carter staring at my back.

"Yes?" I ask him. Carter slowly looks up at me and a small smile comes to his face.

"Come here," Carter begs. I pretend to think about it for a moment before giving in to his request. I climbed back into bed and laid next to him, our hands touching as we just laid there staring into each others eyes.

"I'm sorry Kumru." Carter finally speaks. I was about to shake my head and tell him once again that he shouldn't be sorry about the kiss the other day but the words never needed to leave my mouth. Carter leaned in and gave me a kiss. I was shocked for a moment. This wasn't like him. I enjoyed this part of him, but this wasn't like him.

"I love you Lily Janine Hathaway-Mazur." Carter said using my full name. I grinned at him and leaned in to kiss him back. I wrapped my arms around him and tilted my head slightly to deepen the kiss. But reality dawn on both of us much sooner than we would've liked. We pulled away and instead just held hands.

Finally, about five minutes later, I decided to get up and get dressed before Lana came back. If she found out about this, she most definitely would not let Carter, or I, live this down. I changed from the long skirt and loose fitting shirt to jean shorts and a tank top underneath an over sized button up pale blue t-shirt. By the time I was done dressing Carter had gotten dressed and resumed his position as my Guardian. I looked at him lovingly but in a sarcastic way. He broke his mask just for a second and threw me a playful smirk. I grinned at him and then walked over to my two doors to unlock them. Lana did not need to get ideas of what had just happened in my room.

And Lana did come back, very soon; like ten minutes later. She had her bags pack for the two month long trip. We were only going to be at Court for close to two months, she had packed enough for I'd say about a six month long stay.

"Seriously?" I asked her looking back and forth between her and her bags. She grinned at me like the maniac she was and then said,

"You know me. I always over pack, no matter what." Well she had me there. She did over pack, for everything. I rolled my eyes and shook my head at her as I finished packing my trunk. One trunk and a backpack, that's all I would need. Lana looked like she brought her entire wardrobe.

"Come one we should go to bed." I told Lana. She yawned and nodded her head. She left her bags in my room but headed down the hallway to the guest bedroom on the other side of my room.

"Night loser," She said before closing her door behind her. I rolled my eyes at her once more. Weren't we so nice to each other? I looked back into my room expecting to still see Carter standing in his corner of my room but he was gone; most likely through the door that connected his room to mine. I didn't feel like changing, since we had to get up in a few hours, so I just went straight to bed in my clothes.

* * *

 **Rose's P.O.V Time Lapse**

When our plane finally landed in the Pocono Mountains Municipal Airport the seed of trepidation started to grow into a tree in the pit of my stomach. I was scared by what the Court would say about me but more importantly what they would say about Lily. Not many people knew that I had a daughter, let alone that the 'Niece' of Abe Mazur was actually my daughter.

"Relax Rose, they don't know anything." Adem said for the tenth time, trying to reassure me that the story we were spinning would work. I, however, wasn't so sure. We walked over to the awaiting cars on the tarmac and loaded our luggage into the trunk. I looked over my shoulder and saw that Lily was still sleeping, but was being carried by Guardian Wolf from the plane to the car. I shook my head at the sight. I swear that girl could fall asleep anywhere. Svetlana followed closely behind.

"You can't blame me for being nervous. I haven't been back to Court in eighteen years." I whispered to him. Adem smirked at me to which I glared back at him. He didn't say anything but shook his head at me. I looked over to Lily once more and saw that Guardian Wolf was still attentive and alert to his surroundings. The man hadn't slept for the whole entirety of the trip, even after I insisted that he rest, and still managed to stay alert. He could sleep for three hours and run a twenty something hour long shift without yawning. I couldn't even do that when I was his age. Granted I was raising Lily when I was his age. I opened the car door for Guardian Wolf as he gently laid Lily in the back sit before climbing in and sitting next to her. Svetlana sat on the other side of Lily while Adem and I climbed into the front seat and started off on our long three hour drive to court.

"Try and rest. _Serebro,_ " Adem advised me. I smiled at him and nodded my head. The one thing that I feared more than seeing Lissa was seeing Dimitri. Would he still be the same after all these years? Would he still be protecting Lissa? Who was his partner? Did he even have a partner? So many questions were running through my head, finally I succumbed to sleep. But seeing them, I knew, would be very different than seeing them in my dream.

Adem shook me awake about five minutes out from the Court's main gate. Lily was now awake and rapidly talking with Svetlana in her native language. I had learned to speak Russian when I moved to Turkey but never really bothered learning how to read it. Lily had though. She sometimes had to act as my translator. She always got a good laugh out of it.

It was early morning for the Moroi world so it was no surprise when we saw people up and about, doing their normal daily routine. What did shock me was the reception outside of the Court's main house; the Council building that is. That was where all the guests, coming in and out of Court, check in. The last time I was there was with Aunt Maggie right before we left for Turkey.

"This is not what I was expecting." I muttered out softly so only Adem could hear me. Adem smiled and glanced over at me.

"Relax, Serebro everything will be fine. Trust your father." Adem reminded me. I inhaled a deep breath before turning around and facing Lily.

"Lily, I need you two pay attention to what I'm going to say; okay?" I said. Lily and Svetlana both nodded their head. I gave them the quick summary of our trip to Court, leaving out the main reason of course, and told them that if they were ever lost to just call me, Adem, or Guardian Wolf. Lily and Svetlana both nodded their head in agreement. I smiled at Lily before turning around and seeing the two pairs of eyes that I had been dreading for a little over a week. They were staring right at me. For a moment I almost forgot how to breathe before Adem placed a comforting hand on top of my own and gave me another one of his reassuring smiles. I smiled back at him and unbuckled myself from the seat.

'Here goes nothing.' I thought. I placed my Guardian mask on my face and walked to the back seat door opening it for Svetlana and Lily to come out. Guardian Wolf climbed out on the other side. He quickly walked around the backside of the car and stood behind Lily. Adem and I stood next to him, behind my daughter and her friend. My father and mom soon joined us. My father stood in front of all of us. He smiled at the greeting party of Council members.

"Prince Ivashkov you have grown since I last saw you," My father said. I had been so focused on seeing Lissa and Dimitri that I hadn't realized that Adrian was also among them. He had changed. For once he was actually wearing a completed suit with a tie. But when did he become Prince Ivashkov?

"Mr. Mazur," Adrian greeted back with a curt nod. I held back my smile. Lily and Svetlana took a step forward but still stood behind my father.

"Your Highness," Lily addressed Adrian. She did the customary curtsy and bow her head. Svetlana followed her lead. Guardian Wolf, Adem, mom and I might have not needed to be on the clock but we always acted like we were.

"Your Majesty, you look even more beautiful since I last saw you. It must have been close to twenty years, yes?" My father said nonchalantly. Lily and Svetlana were still behind my father but that didn't stop the two of them from looking over his shoulder to try and get a glimpse of the Royal Council members that were present.

"Eighteen to be more exact." Lissa said curtly. Lissa looked around at our small group and finally noticed Lily and Svetlana. I subconsciously held my breath.

"And who are these people?" Lissa asked with a regal air of curiosity. Lily and Svetlana both stepped forward and curtsied and said a polite hello.

"This is my niece, Lily Mazur, and her friend, Svetlana Dover. I thought that it was time that they see what Court is like, considering that they'll soon becoming here after graduation." My father said. I wanted yell at him so badly. When would he stop talking? Lissa looked over my daughter and her friend. Though her face was composed of a cool demeanor I could feel through the bond that she was shocked at the appearance of Lily. Even though we claimed her to be my father's niece it was quiet obvious to others who knew me that she looked almost identical to what I used to looked like when I was her age.

"Your Majesty, I think we should let these two go to their rooms. They've had an awful long trip here and haven't had much time to sleep." My father said politely. He ushered them aside and Lissa agreed, silently motioning for Eddie to take them to their rooms. Guardian Wolf followed behind them. I had been so focused on Lissa and Dimitri that I hadn't noticed that most of my old friends were here. Adrian, Eddie, Mia, Christian, Jill, Tasha, and then of course Lissa and Dimitri.

"If you don't mind Mr. Mazur? I'd like to speak to Guardian Hathaway privately." At first I thought that Lissa was talking about my mom and then it dawned on me that they didn't know that I had changed my last name. Of course they wouldn't have because I haven't spoken to most of them in eighteen years.

"I don't mind Your Majesty." My father said. He and my mom quickly walked out of the building but not before throwing a worrying glance over their shoulder. Adem was a bit more apprehensive about leaving me. I gave him a reassuring nod, telling him that I would be fine without him. He nodded back but his eyes said that he would be waiting outside if I needed him.

"Council dismissed." Lissa said with regal tone. I was almost in awe at her changed behavior, or at least the control she finally seemed to have over the rowdy Royals. Most of the Royals left without saying a word. The only Royals that stayed, besides Lissa, were Tasha and Christian Ozera and Adrian Ivashkov. I stepped forward, discreetly taking a deep breath, before greeting Lissa the formal way a Guardian would address the reigning Monarch.

"Queen Vasilisa," I said before bowing in front of her. Even though I knew that we were now in an informal setting I would treat it as though it was a black tie event.

"Enough with the formalities Rose welcome back." Lissa said with a true genuine smile on her lips. I wanted to break away from the Guardian mask that I was wearing but my training was screaming at me to do differently.

"I'm only here temporarily Your Majesty. I'm accompanying my a Charge to Court and then I'll fly back home with her." I spoke briskly. I wasn't trying to be rude but the whole situation had made me uncomfortable and I was resorting to the only method I knew. My wit and sarcasm.

"Please Rose," Lissa openly begs with me. I glanced over her shoulder and saw that everyone was watching us with baited breath. Like Lissa and I were some kind of tennis match. Eddie had now returned and was standing next to the towering six foot seven giant that I had once loved. That I might still love.

"I already explained to you why I'm here Your Majesty. I won't abandon my Charge." I stated. I saw Tasha move ever so slightly towards Lissa with Christian right behind her. Mia was standing in the background and Eddie and Dimitri stood perfectly still like the statues we had all been trained to be like.

"Rose-" Lissa started to say but I had to cut her off. If I heard her beg one more time I was slip up and no longer be my Guardian self. I would be Rose Hathaway, the teenage girl that got into a huge fight with her best friend because of her forbidden lover turned Strigoi Dhampir changeling.

"Excuse me Your Majesty, but I must go check in with my Charge." I said. I turned around, without being formally dismissed from her presence, and left the building. I didn't look over my shoulder through the door's window like glass; I didn't stop walking to think clearly. I didn't do anything that I probably should have done. No, instead I walked out of the building, grabbed Adem's hand on the way out and went straight into finding Lily's temporary housing unit.

Finally when we were far away Adem placed his other hand on my shoulder, forcing me to slow down and talk to him.

"What happened in there?" Adem asked. I took a deep breath before speaking of the events that caused me to panic.

"I don't know. After you left Lissa was practically begging me to stay here and I panicked. I told her that I was only here temporarily with my Charge and that I would be leaving with her." I spilled my guts out to Adem. He took it in strides. He started to rub small soothing circles on the small of my back. I wanted to just fly back to Turkey and stay hidden away from everything. But the reality was that I couldn't. I had to stay here as long as my daughter was here and protect her from Court. If there was one thing that I learned from the last time that I was here it was that nothing is ever what it appears to be.

"Serebro, breathe, in and out, in and out. Okay?" Adem said, forcing me to stop walking altogether and look at him instead of the ground. I did as I was told and breathed in and out with Adem. My racing heart was slowing down just a tad but it was enough for my brain to come to its sense.

"We'll get through this together, like always." Adem whispered to me. I nodded my head and Adem pulled me into a hug and I wrapped my arms around him. He gave me a comforting kiss on the top of my head. I closed my eyes and tightened my arms around him. We stayed like this for a good five minutes before finally breaking apart and agreeing to look for Lily in the morning.

* * *

 **Adem's P.O.V**

"Serebro, breathe, in and out, in and out. Okay?" I said to Rose. I placed my hands on her shoulder, forcing her to stop walking. She was distracted, I could tell, but not in a good way. I tell see her slowly drifting away from reality and slip into the darkness that she always constantly warned me about. I had told her it was nonsense, that it was all up in her head, but I never stopped looking out for her. There had been a few times where she had let the darkness win her over and she would lash out on unsuspecting Guardians. Thankfully I had always been around to take most of the heat. Of course once she had managed to shake off the darkness she would always apologize for attacking me but I brushed off her apologies. I knew that she couldn't control it. It was something that had been bound to happen.

I look at her in the eyes and try and search for any part of the Rose Hathaway that I had fall in love with. Once I found it I told her, like I always had before,

"We'll get through this together, like always." I whispered to her. I pulled her in for a hug, wishing that I could comfort her and take away her pain. But I resort to giving her a kiss on her head. She tightened her arms around me, unknowingly to her, causing me to get knots in my stomach. I knew that she had been through so much in the last hour that I convinced her to find Lily and Svetlana in the morning, assuring her that Guardian Wolf would be able to protect them both at Court. Serebro looked a little worried but gave in as I slowly had to drag the begrudging mother to her room so she could get a proper night's rest.

As I left her in her room I noticed a dark shadow cast its figure on the carpeted floor of the hallway. Instinctively my hand went straight to my stake at my hip. I stilled my movements and waited for the shadow figure to appear around the corner. Once the figure did appear around the corner I didn't want to attack it with my stake but rather with my hands.

It was Dimitri Belikov. Lily's father and Rose's heartbreak.

"Guardian Belikov, how may I help you?" I said as calmly as I could. I'm pretty sure that a small portion of my sentence was spoken through my unopened mouth. Belikov looked at me and then at the door behind me.

"Is this where Rose is staying?" Belikov asked. My eyes narrowed at the 'potential threat' in front me.

"Guardian Hussein doesn't wish to be bothered right now." I told him. I lied to him of course. Rose was fine but I knew that she didn't want to, nor was she fit to, deal with Belikov at the moment. Also Hussein wasn't her last name, it was mine. Maybe the Russian giant would notice that.

He seemed to as he was taken aback by Rose's 'last name.' He looked me up and down, like he was inspecting a newly recruited Royal Guardian. I didn't shrink back from his gaze. Instead I tried to match up to Belikov; the man had a good two inches on me but that didn't stop me.

"How do you know Rose?" Belikov asked. I wanted to roll my eyes at the oaf but I restrained myself from doing so.

"My name is Adem Hussein. I'm Rose's husband."

* * *

 **So here we come, once again to the ending of another chapter. I hope that you've enjoyed it just like the others. I will point this out, as I'm sure many of you are wondering about the small things; maybe thinking that I made a mistake with Lily's name. I will explain almost everything in the next chapter.  
**

 **So I've finished the editing and I did not take anything away just rearranged things and their wording to make more sense. I hope that you don't hate me to much for the cliffhanger. I actually wasn't expecting that to get the kind of reaction that I did, but I happy about it. Please don't hate me to much for it though. I promise that I'll try and update as soon as I can or remember to. I love the reviews and will respond to them in the next chapter. Thanks for reading Chapter 4: New Times and Old Faces and leaving reviews.**


	5. The Glass Case

**I'm back! I'm so sorry about not updating for more than a year and then some. I hope you guys can forgive me. I had a serious case of writer's block and then I was for the longest time ever not in the mood to write. At least not fanfic writing. I just had some personal stuff that took priority. Anyways I hope that I can make up for my lack of updating with this new chapter. I will say that I'm sorry that I left you guys with the major cliff hanger. I know it wasn't fair of me but I felt like that was were the chapter needed to end. Also about the long absent. I wasn't ignoring the writing. I was writing just sometimes I was writing new stories or struggling to figure out how to continue on with the existing stories. Sometimes all I really needed was to just sit down and force myself to write the chapter and see where it goes and decided what parts I want to keep and what parts I want to delete. So without further delay, enjoy the new chapter. Disclaimer on all characters except Lily and Lana and well anyone else who doesn't appear in the original series. Please excuse the grammar and spelling errors. I stayed up till about 2 finishing this chapter.  
**

* * *

 **Jannyg92-** _I'm sorry that I left you with the major cliff hanger. I know that people wouldn't like that but it was the right place to end it. I hope you don't still hate me. You will have to wait and see to how the gang and Dimitri react. Enjoy._

 **jessicadangerfield.9-** _Once again they cut off your name so I have to change it a little. Sorry about that._ _I'm glad that you loved the last chapter. I hope you love this new one just as much. I'm sorry about the cliff hanger. Hope I don't disappoint in this new chapter._

 **swimmer07-** _I'm glad that you think the last chapter was awesome. I'm also glad that you like Adem. I was worried that many wouldn't because he's gotten in between Rose and Dimitri as well as kind of taking over the roll of Dad for Lily._

 **stardreamer2608-** _I'm happy to hear that you loved the last chapter. I hope that this new one makes up for the long wait between the two._

 **Kalico11-** _I'm glad to see that someone for once isn't saying that they hate me for the way I ended the last chapter. I hope you love this new chapter just as much as the last. Enjoy._

 **AliceLouiseVA123-** _I've finally updated. I hope you like it._

 **Roselopez-** _I don't really know what you mean by don't change anything. But I'm going to think you mean don't change anything between the relationship of Rose and Dimitri. Well you'll have to keep reading to know what happens next. Sorry. Enjoy the chapter._

 **Ahaneyan-** _I think Rose will react the way we think Rose will react. However trying to put that in words will by another tricky task. But I'm ready for it. The question though is are you ready for the wait?_

 **DhampirWriter101-** _Well if you want to find out the truth you'll just have to keep reading the story. Sorry in advance for the long wait.  
_

 **Promise Me You'll Love Me-** _I'm glad that you loved it and that you thought it was awesome. As for seeing Dimitri's reaction you'll just have to wait a bit longer. Sorry about that. Lol. I really loved reading your review. Now the next chapter button will appear. I hope you enjoy._

 **Guest-** _Sorry that the update was not as soon as you'd have liked. Honestly it didn't happen as soon as I would've liked. But that's the pain of having a writer's block I guess. Enjoy._

 **AHumanLady-** _I'm so sorry that the update was not a a few days from when I last posted the last chapter. Writer's block and personal issues will do that. I'm knew that the cliff hanger was going to anger some but I didn't think that it would garner this much attention. I love it. Anyways here's the next chapter.  
_

 **anaju'h-** _I'm trying to finish this story in a timely fashion but I've also got other story and my life going on. I know that I could manage to make some time for writing the next few chapters but sometimes I don't feel like cracking open my laptop and writing. Sometimes I just want to go to sleep after a long day. You know?_

 **JessFromNewGeekland-** _You're feeling of jealousy and love triangles are not that far off. You'll just have to wait and see. Sorry._

 **Spok1017-** _Sorry to say this but I'm happy that I was able to get that reaction out of you. It made me smile. Means that I'm doing a good job at this. I think I am at least. As for Adem well you'll just have to wait and see how Rose will react to it as well as Dimitri handling the news. But I can't go any further than that. Sorry, my lips are sealed._

 **Mya-** _I'm so sorry that I haven't updated sooner. I know it's really bad since I've had about a year and a half to do so. But sometimes I just don't have the inspiration to write the next chapter, much less figure out what the next chapter will be about. I'm trying to figure a way around that. I'm working on it I promise._

 **Katie Hathaway Ross-** _I'm very flattered that you've read my other stories. Can I ask which ones you've read? And sorry that I haven't updated any recently. Instead I've been coming out with new stories that unexpectedly go on a hiatus for a long time. All the questions you're asking you'll just have to wait and see how I decided to have it played out. I will eventually get around to the three Characters, Rose, Dimitri, and Lily. I'm a little sad that you don't like Adem. He's only trying to protect Rose the way he thinks is best. But I hope that I can get you to like him eventually. Enjoy._

 **BelikovaBabe-** _I've updated, finally. Sorry about the long wait._

 **Kevinb420-** _Well I've finally written the next chapter although you'll have to wait just a bit longer for the confrontation between Adem, Rose, and Dimitri._

 **russia2774-** _I'll try and update more often now. I'm sorry about the long long wait._

 **Onlinelover6-** _I've updated at last. Sorry that it wasn't soon enough.  
_

 **Katherine Drozov-** _I'm glad that you thought the last chapter was awesome. I hope you like this new one just as much. Enjoy._

* * *

 **Re-cap  
**

 _ **Lily was told that she would be joining her family on their visit to the Moroi Court. She brings along her best friend, a Moroi named Lana Dover, and her Guardian, Carter Wolf. Rose is a nervous ball of energy as they make their way to the Court. She didn't want to bring her daughter there for another year or so. If Rose had her way she wouldn't have brought Lily to Court at all. As soon as they enter the Court grounds they are met by the ghosts of Rose's past. The Queen and her Council of Moroi and Dhampir. As protocol requires the Queen's Royal Guards were also there. Rose felt like she was being hit by a ton of bricks and slowly started to shut down in front of her ghosts. Excusing herself from the Queen, Rose goes to Adem for comfort and protection.  
**_

 _ **Adem makes it his job to protect Rose from any harm. That also mean protecting her from her ex-lover. Dimitri Belikov. So when Dimitri comes walking around the corner of Rose's room Adem does all that he can to stop him from advancing Rose any further. Though he may regret opening his mouth later.**_

* * *

 **Lily's P.O.V**

"Your left side needs more work." Carter told me as I scrambled to stand back up. As soon as I'm standing Carter attacks me and I'm back to defending myself. But as Carter said; my left side defense needed more work so he continued his attacks on my left side only. I was starting to get annoyed with him. It was out third day at Court and so far the only part that I had explored was my bedroom and trying to adjust to the different time zone. Carter, on his constantly weird sleep pattern, pulled me out of bed at five in the afternoon (morning for the Moroi) and started training with me. Now I love him but my sleep was more important for my sanity then my training.

An hour and a half later Carter and I were finally done. I was sweating and ready for a shower. I grabbed my water bottle and chugged down a little more than half of it. Carter took a sip of his own as he wiped the sweat off of his face with the towel around his neck.

"Same time tomorrow?" I asked, knowing Carter he liked routines. If he started one thing one day most likely he would continue doing them for days to come.

"Yeah," Carter said breathlessly. I grabbed my gym bag and started to head for the door. About ten steps away the door swung open and a Guardian walked through. Well the Royal Elite Guardian that is. I was shocked by who it was though.

It was the Royal Head Guardian. Guardian Belikov.

"Sir," I greeted as I walked by. For the second time that I had seen him he had this shocked awed expression in his eyes, and only his eyes. For a moment I thought that he was going to stop me and say something, but he never did. I looked over my shoulder, towards Carter, and motioned towards the locker rooms. Carter nodded his head, understanding what I meant. I turned around and Royal Guardian Belikov stood less than a foot away from my face.

"Sorry sir." I mumbled out. "Excuse me," I stuttered out, still quiet shocked by how close he had approached me and I didn't hear him at all. I walked around him and let out a sigh.

This was the second time that I had met Royal Guardian Belikov. Again he only stared at me. But this time he could have said something to me, but he didn't. His face might have never shown his emotions but his eyes told me everything. His eyes looked like they had seen a ghost. I don't know why though. I hadn't seen him before in my life and I would've remembered a face like his. He kind of scared me the first time I met him. His imposing six foot seven figure towered over my five foot nine frame. His eyes were emotionless as my family walked into the Council Building but as soon as he saw me his eyes shifted almost to awe but mostly shock.

I walked into the locker room and started to change out of my clothes to take a shower. The sound of the door opening and closing surprised me. It was still early in the Moroi world.

"Hi," a voice said behind me. I turned around and saw a curly blonde hair Moroi standing near a locker. She looked familiar but I couldn't pinpoint where from right away.

"Lily, right?" The blonde questioned. I nodded my head as a smile spread across her face and she held out her hand.

"I'm Mia; Mia Rinaldi." I shook her hand, still a bit cautious of how she knew me. Suddenly she shook her head.

"I'm sorry. You must think I'm crazy. I met you when you walked into the Council Building. I'm a Royal Advisor to Lissa." Mia rambled out. My eyes widened in shock and realization. 'Of course' I thought to myself. Mia was the one who looked like a China-doll. But my shock wasn't from my own stupidity; it was from the way that she had addressed the Queen in such an informal way. I had always been taught to call the Queen by her full title. Queen Vasilisa Dragomir, the first of her name and the last of her line. I didn't say the last part that often because basically everyone knew that the Queen had a half sister, so she wasn't really the last of her line but the last of her legitimate line. Once the shock wore off I took in Mia's appearance.

She was wearing a pale lime green shirt and black yoga pants. Instinctively I raised an eyebrow. I wasn't use to seeing Moroi dressed in workout clothes.

"Where are you going?" I asked. My curiosity got the best of me. I bite down on my lower lip. Mia seemed to have picked up on my slight slip up and smiled at me instead of yelling, like I had expected.

"I'm training. My friend Christian has been helping me along with a Guardian friend of ours. Do you want to join?" Mia asked. I instantly wanted to shake my head and refuse; I was a Dhampir who had been trained to kill since I could walk, it wouldn't be a fair fight. But the thought of seeing a Moroi fight, most likely with magic, was very tempting. Lana had wanted to sit in on some of my classes but wasn't allowed to because she was a Moroi. Maybe I could show her how these guys fought.

"Sure." I blurted out before I could think of reasons against the idea. I put on my clean shirt, instead of the one drenched in sweat, and followed Mia out to the gym. Thankfully Carter had left but, as I soon learned, the Guardian friend of hers' was Royal Guardian Belikov. I swallowed a lump down my throat and pushed forward next to Mia.

"Hey Dimitri; where's Christian?" Mia asked as we got closer to Royal Guardian Belikov. He looked over his shoulder and out came Christian, let me re-phrase that/ Out came Prince Ozera, in sweat pants and what looked like an old t-shirt of his. I looked over to Mia, who had a smile on her face and turned around to push me forward.

"This is my new friend Lily. Abe Mazur's niece." Mia politely pointed out my 'relation' to my grandfather. I walked up a little nervous. My eyes shifted quickly from Prince Ozera and Royal Guardian Belikov.

"Sir," I nodded to Royal Guardian Belikov before turning to Prince Ozera. "Your Highness," I greeted. Prince Ozera rolled his eyes when I addressed him. At first I thought that I had called him by the wrong title and he was going to berate me for that. But the words that came out of his mouth shocked me beyond anything that I could have every imagined.

"Don't call me that. I hate it. Just call me Christian." My eyes widened. Mia must have noticed because she placed a hand on my shoulder and gave me a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry about him. He just doesn't like being reminded that he's The Royal in his family." Mia whispered to me. At first I was confused as to why but the memory of taking Moroi History classes played in my mind and forced me to keep my mouth shut. The voice of Mr. Marinov re-played in my head, from two years ago, explaining the risings and downfalls of Royal families in history. The Ozera family was the latest one to happen.

"I invited Lily to join us for today's session." Mia explained to Royal Guardian Belikov and Prince Oz - I mean Christian. Royal Guardian Belikov looked at me, from head to toe, and silently judged me. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. I was worried that he would spot me out as a Dhampir and not the Moroi I was parading around like. Christian seemed to be getting restless by Royal Guardian Belikov's silent judgment of me and broke the silence, as well as Royal Guardian Belikov's trance.

"Are we going to start?" Royal Guardian Belikov looked over his shoulder and seemed to throw Christian a glare but he remained silent. Mia smirked at the two and rolled her eyes.

"Hey don't start throwing punches yet. Save it for the mats." Mia spoke out before the glances became physical blows. I still stood off to the side totally unsure of what to do. Royal Guardian Belikov turned back to me and opened his mouth to finally speak to me. The first since I had met him.

"Do you know how to fight?" He asked. I was ready to nod my head yes. Did I know how to train? To me that sounds like a rhetorical question but then again I wasn't at home, so I had to lie. I resulted to shrugging my shoulders.

"Kind of. I'm not good at it." I explained to him. Royal Guardian Belikov seemed to approve of my answer, though his eyes screamed out a different answer; he never spoke another word to me.

By eight o'clock I was ready to pass out on the mats. I had done two training sessions and I just wanted to eat and then go back to bed. I was rolling out my shoulder when the gym door swung wide open and I met the eyes of a very angry friend and Guardian.

"Where the hell have you been?" Lana practically screamed at me. I gave her a dull look, like it wasn't obvious from where we were standing.

"In the gym," I said, making it obvious by motioning to the room around us. Lana rolled her eyes at me. She knew that I was messing with her but she was still annoyed with me. Carter was too, though he didn't show it the same way Lana did.

"We're gonna be late for breakfast." Lana stated. I raised an eyebrow at her. 'We have different breakfast foods.' I reminded her through our bond. I shook my head at her.

"Relax we still got time." Lana glared at me. I rolled my eyes at her and turned around to grab my gym bag. But Mia was already holding it out for me.

"Thanks, sorry about my friend." I said as I took my bag from Mia's hand. Lana, being a bit more a people person, realized who she was standing in front of and her eyes widened drastically.

"You're Mia Rinaldi and you're Prince Christian Ozera….." Lana suddenly stopped talking. She was at a loss for words. I walked over to her and patted her on her shoulder.

"Come on we should go. I'll see you guys tomorrow?" I asked over my shoulder. Mia smiled at me and nodded her head, Christian waved goodbye to me and Royal Guardian Belikov just continued to stare at me like he had for the past hour. I shook off the weird feeling and walked out of the gym with Lana next to me and Carter behind me.

"Hey I'll meet you down in the feeder's room okay? I need to go change and take a shower." I told Lana. She glared at me and rolled her eyes then stalked away. I smirked and shook my head at her.

"Why didn't you tell me where you were Lily?" Carter voice brought me back to the reality that I did forget to tell him. I was going to be in trouble with him.

* * *

 **Third P.O.V**

"Is it just me or does she remind you guys a lot of Rose?" Mia asked Christian and Dimitri. Christian shrugged his shoulders, he was always oblivious of things, and Dimitri looked away from the door. Maybe it had gone unnoticed by Christian but not by Mia or the Royal Guardian. Lily not only reminded her a lot of Rose, by the way she behaved and looked, but she was the center of attention for Dimitri the last hour and a half. At first Mia didn't find it so strange, Lily did look exactly like Rose, but it wasn't like Dimitri to continually stare at someone.

"Kind of I guess. She does look like Rose." Christian said. Mia rolled my eyes at him as she leaned down to grab my gym bag. Christian was taking a sip from his water bottle and Dimitri was already walking away. Mia silently cursed them both in her head. 'Men!' She exclaimed in her head. Christian shook his head at her and Mia turned around and left him in the gym.

Inside the men's locker room Dimitri was already done with his shower and changing into his clean clothes. There were a million thoughts running around in his head.

Four nights ago he couldn't believe that Rose was coming back to court, after disappearing for the past eighteen years. Three nights ago he couldn't believe his eyes; Rose was standing right there in front of him but she had looked over him like she didn't know who he was. As he later found out; who he had originally thought was Rose, was actually Lily, Rose's cousin, but he still thought she looked beautiful. As if no time had passed by her. He wanted to reach out and touch her, to know that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. They hadn't but he still couldn't believe that Rose was back in court. And every time he looked at Lily he was reminded of how beautiful Rose was. They might have been cousins but Lily could've been Rose's daughter, maybe even her sister.

Dimitri shook the thoughts out of his head. They were all wrong anyways. Lily was Rose's cousin, not her daughter or sister. But there were so many similarities between the two that Dimitri couldn't forget about.

Dimitri headed out of the men's locker room as Christian came walking in. They both gave each other a small smile before parting ways. Dimitri was walking down the hallway when he spotted a somewhat familiar figure coming towards him. But it wasn't the figure he wanted to see. It was Adem.

"Guardian Hussein," Dimitri greeted formally. There was a hint of aggression hidden in his greeting. Dimitri knew he had lost all rights to Rose's heart but that hadn't stopped him from being jealous of Adem and how easily Rose had gotten over him. After all this time, life seemed to have moved on for Rose but for Dimitri; he was frozen in time. Stuck in the past that he regretted and brooding over the future that he'd never get. The future he wanted to have with Rose.

"Guardian Belikov," Adem greeted back. The tension was still high between them. Adem hadn't forgiven Dimitri for what he did to Rose and Dimitri still couldn't come to terms with Rose's marriage to Adem, much less to another active Dhampir Guardian.

"How are you?" Adem asked, treading lightly over the elephant in the room subject.

"I'm well. And yourself?" Dimitri asked. They both stood there awkwardly in the middle of the hallway. Adem's hands were holding the strap of his gym bag and Dimitri was shifting his weight to give him the better advantage should anything happen.

"Always room for improvement." Adem said, cracking a small smile while trying to ease the ever growing tension between them. The two Guardians stood there for a moment more before silently separating and walking away in opposite directions. Dimitri looked over his shoulder once as he walked away but Adem didn't even bother. He thought it was a waste of time.

* * *

"So what was that all about?" Lana asked Lily. Lily glanced over to her best friend. By now they had entered the feeding room and were waiting for Lana's feeding time.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Lily said, shrugging her shoulders. She shifted her weight from one leg to another. She knew what her friend was referring to but she didn't want to dig into it any further, at least not at this moment in time.

"Yes you do. Don't lie to me." Lana said poking at Lily's rib cage. Lily rolled her eyes at her best friend. She knew that Lana would not let it go until she told her. And she knew exactly what Lana was talking about.

"We'll talk about it later, okay? Right now I need to go find Carter." Lily said. Lana rolled her eyes and Lily lightly shoved her best friend in the feeding room. Lana looked over her shoulder as Lily started to walk away. She knew something was up with her best friend but she would have to wait for later to find out what it was. Lily on the other hand was confused. She had been confused completely since they landed at Court. She knew that for the sake of her safety she had to lie about who she really was. She was playing to role of her mother's cousin, not her daughter. She knew her name, while at Court, was Lily Janine Mazur. She knew her mother's name was Rose Hathaway-Hussein. She knew her stepfather's name was Adem Hussein. She knew all these things and yet she didn't know why she was here.

Her mother always kept her nearby, for safekeeping, she knew that. But she had no business being at Court, other than her family being there. But even then she didn't know why her family was at Court in the first place. Her mother always swore that she'd never come back to Court as long as she lived. But here they were, in the place she never thought she'd see until Guardian to Charge ceremony which wouldn't take place for another year.

As Lily walked down the hallway she was completely wrapped up in her own thoughts that she didn't pay any mind to where she was going and ran right into a Moroi.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" the Moroi shouted out, brushing off the invisible dirt that got onto his jacket.

"Sorry, I wasn't- I didn't mean to." Lily said quickly. She stumbled over her words, something that wasn't like her. Lily looked up at the 6'6 frame of a Moroi. He was considerably taller than her 5'7 frame. He had shaggy black hair and amber golden eyes. There was small scaring on his cheek, under his right eye. He wore a black jacket with a dark burgundy button up shirt. He smoothed out his dark navy blue pants before looking down at Lily's smaller frame.

"Then I guess were both at fault then." The Moroi said with a slight smirk on his lips. Lily blinked a few times, confused by what he meant but shook off the uncomfortable feeling she got from him. Lily pressed her lips together and shifted her weight from one leg to the other. She didn't know what to do. She didn't want to come off as being rude but she didn't want to stand there much longer. She started to open her mouth to say something but was interrupted by the voice of Carter. The man she was looking for.

"Ms. Mazur," Carter said in stern voice. Lily looked over her shoulder at his figure. She got the sense that he wanted to talk to her in private by the way he was looking at her. Lily nodded her head and motioned for him to give her a minute.

"Excuse me," Lily said as politely as she could. But before she could even take a step away from the Moroi he opened his mouth to speak to her.

"Mazur? As in Lily Mazur, niece of Abe Mazur the Zmey?" The Moroi asked, raising an eyebrow. Lily tilted her head. The Moroi took another step towards Lily as she took a step back.

"Do I know you?" She asked, bracing herself for any kind of attack the Moroi might inflict upon her. Carter, even though he was several feet away from her, started to sense that something wasn't right with the Moroi that was approaching Lily. He started to make his way over to the questionable Moroi that was making his Lily, his _Kumru_ , uncomfortable.

"No, not really. We used to go to the same school in Russia. St. Basil. I was two years ahead of you." The Moroi explained. Lily tired to think two years back in St. Basil. Two years ago she was a sophomore in high school. She spent most of her time with Lana and her other Dhampir friends. Maybe it was the fact that he was a Moroi and she was Dhampir that she didn't remember him. Suddenly her eyes widened, not from recognition of her supposed schoolmate but rather the fact that if he knew who she really was, he could blow her cover. The one her family had carefully put in place to protect her from anyone who would wish her harm during her time at court.

"I'm sorry to say but I don't remember you, sir." Lily said. She started to walk away from him once more. But before she could go far the Moroi reached out to grab for her hand, trying to prevent her from going any further; not that she went really far. Suddenly defensive reflexes kicked in and Carter was over to Lily within seconds but it wasn't very necessary. Lily grabbed the Moroi's wrist with her free hand and twisted it behind his back. She pushed him up against the wall and held a knife to his neck. The Moroi needless to say, was taken by complete surprise. Lily, once she realized her actions, started to internally panic. After a moment's breath she took a step back and dropped her hand, pulling the knife away from the Moroi's neck.

"Sorry." Lily breathed out. She took another step back and then turned away, practically running right into Carter. She didn't know where she would go now but she knew that she needed to get out of that particular area. If she spent another moment longer in that corridor she knew that she was risking her cover. That was something that she couldn't afford. Carter let Lily brush past him but stood in the same position, several feet away from the Moroi.

"Sir," Carter said formally. He bowed towards the Moroi and then turned to leave. But before Carter could move to far the Moroi called out for him, causing him to stop in his tracks.

"Guardian Wolf?" The Moroi inquired. "Isn't it?" The Moroi asked for confirmation. Carter looked over his shoulder and gave a slight nod to the Moroi. The nameless Moroi smirked at Carter and then finally parted ways from the corridor. Carter turned back around to go find where Lily went off to. He let out a sigh that he had been holding in since the confrontation with the Moroi and Lily. He rubbed his hand over his face and continued down the other end of the hallway, in the direction that Lily ran away. With any good hope he would find her before her mother did, least of all her grandfather, Mr. Mazur, himself would not be a happy man with him losing his granddaughter. Granted Carter would not be happy with himself if he let anything happen to Lily. But he knew that Lily was strong enough to care for herself, something that she was very adamant about proving on more than one occasion.

Carter thought to look in her room, so he headed over to the Foreign Moroi Guest House. He entered the main lobby area and looked around the room. But there was no sign of Lily anywhere. Carter started to worry. He checked in with the Guardian assigned to the building and quickly ran up the stairs heading straight for Lily's room. With any luck he would find her soon, but she was always quick to run away. Turn your back for a second and she would be a mile or so away from you. As Carter got closer to her room he noticed her door was slightly jarred open. He instantly quickened his pace and silently opened her door wider. He was on high alert for any potential danger that might pose a threat to him or Lily. But there was none. The only danger he had to face was seeing Lily sitting on her bed in tears. Carter let his face soften and walked over to Lily, but not before securing her door completely shut.

"Lily," he sighed out in relief. "Are you okay?" Carter asked. He knelt down in front of her and brushed aside the hair that had created a veil in front of her eyes. Lily wiped away tears from her eyes. Carter pulled her closer to him and tried to sooth her nerves. Lily sat there in Carter's arms for the next few minutes and didn't say a word. She wanted to explain to him why that Moroi had scared her so much but the words were not forming correctly in her mouth to say anything. Her mind was racing too much for her to say anything correctly.

It took her at least five minutes to clear her mind and speak correctly to Carter. She took one more deep breath before looking Carter in the eye.

"Do you remember what happened to me in October three years back?" Lily asked him. Carter nodded his head but stayed silent. It was a time that he much rather forget because it was the first and last time he failed as her Guardian. He vowed to never to allow it to happen again.

"That was him," Lily whispered out. "He knows who I am Carter. He knows who I really am." Lily's voice grew louder with the growing sense fear forming in the pit of her stomach. Carter was quick to act. He forced her to lie down on the bed and instructed her to follow his breathing. She did as she was told for once.

"I'll protect you Lily. I always have and I always will. I promised you that. I mean to keep that promise." Carter whispered into her ear. Lily barely moved her head as she tried to nod in response. He had her stay the way she was for the next five minutes to ensure that she had fully calmed down and was in no danger. A part of him wanted to go hunt the Moroi down and make him pay for what he did to Lily, how sacred he made Lily after that night, but the other half of him; the half that loved Lily to death was too worried about leaving her side even for a second. At the end of his internal debate Carter decided it was best for him to stay by her side, to protect his flower. He would track the Moroi down later and set him straight if it was the last thing he did.

That night, day really, Carter fell asleep next to Lily with his arms still wrapped around her. She buried her face deeper into the crook of his neck and for the time being she forgot about her troubles and worries; as did Carter. It was a soundless night with no intrusions from anyone else that night.

* * *

In the morning Rose went looking for her daughter. She hadn't seen Lily at dinner or at breakfast so she decided to go looking for her daughter. She had already gone to her father and Adem to see if she was there but there was no trace of Lily anywhere. Her last resort was to check her room. Rose was just around the corner from her daughter's room when she ran smack into someone else. She had stumbled back a little but found her footing again when a hand wrapped itself around her elbow.

"Ouch," Rose muttered out. She rubbed her forehead with her free hand. She looked ahead of her to see who she had run into but instantly regretted doing so.

"Roza," a familiar voice spoke. She froze like a stone cold statue. Her blood running cold at the memories that flooded her, breaking the dam she built long ago. Every so slowly she lowered her arm; placing it back at her side. Her mouth shuttered close as she stood up straighter and distanced herself from her mental tormentor.

"Guardian Belikov," Rose greeted with a slightly shaky voice. The silence they forced themselves to endure was agonizing. Neither of them had anything to say nor did they know what to say. After years of wishing to spend just a minute with his Roza here it was and he just stood there silent as a rock. Slowly he opened his mouth to speak, to say anything, any word, any noise; but nothing became vocal enough to leave his lips. Rose noted he looked like a fish gulping for air. She finally shook herself to the reality that was before her.

"If you excuse me I need to go check up on Lily." Rose said never looking up at his eyes again. She made her way to go around him but he grabbed her arm, preventing her from ruining the moment he had dreamed about for so long.

"Please, don't go just yet." Dimitri pleaded not even turning his head to look at her. Rose looked straight ahead at a random door, being her only object of focus during this whole ordeal. Oh how she wished that Adem was there to save her. She slowly closed her eyes and stood up straight next to the man she once loved with her whole heart.

"Is there something I can help you with Guardian Belikov?" Rose asked in a cool demeanor. Dimitri tried his best not to flinch at the tone of her voice but he winced at it. It brought back the memory from the church. The night where he made the worst mistake of his life; pushing her out of his life for good, forcing her to turn her back on him once and for all.

"I…" Dimitri started to speak but the words couldn't, they wouldn't, form. His voice refused to speak. It refused to make another mistake at its cost. They both wanted to start anew but it would only be if Rose was willing to be patient and listen and then forgive them both for the mistakes that led to her leaving them both all those years ago.

"Spit it out Belikov. I don't have the time to wait around for you to find your tongue." Rose said harshly. She didn't want to be there any longer than she needed to be. She could feel the anger rising inside of her; anger at herself for staying in that position longer than she need to, anger at the man who claimed to still love her, anger at the world for putting her in this situation, and anger at herself for letting her guard down and falling in love.

"Congratulations on your marriage. I hope you're happy. He's a lucky man." Dimitri said and briskly left, not wanting to cause further embarrassment on his part. As soon as he turned the corner he shook his head and silently asked himself what he was doing. He had waiting for that moment for ten long agonizing years and all he could muster out was congratulation on her marriage. 'stupid, stupid, stupid.' Dimitri repeated to himself over and over again. He had no right on telling her that. He had no right to even be near her. Not with their past.

Rose had frozen once again. But this time it wasn't out of anger or hurt; but rather out of shock. What had he said to her? How could he have known? No one knew. She was sure of that. She pushed the thought out of her head and tried to focus on the task at hand before she was abruptly blown off track. She took a deep breath and tired to clear her mind. Her daughter was nowhere to been seen all morning and she was trying to find her. That's what she was doing before her past popped up. Finding her daughter is what she needed to be doing. At least that's what she kept telling herself as she rounded to corner and saw her daughter and her daughter's Guardian exiting her guest rooms.

"There you two are. I was starting to get worried. I looked all over and I couldn't find you two. What's going on? Are you okay hun?" Rose asked instantly concerned when she noticed the dark circles under Lily's eyes. Lily gave her mother a warm tired smile but nodded her head.

"Yeah, I'm fine mom. Just had a restless night, I got bored so I asked Carter to stay and keep me company." Lily said, lying to her mother. Rose didn't pick up on this and assumed everything was just as it should be. Lily was thankful that her mother didn't push any further than that. Soon the trio was making their way down to the Café where Lily and Carter could both enjoy a late breakfast. Lily and her mother talked all about what had happened yesterday with Lily and Lana. Rose gave her daughter a smile and silently thought about these small moments with her daughter. She truly cherished seeing her daughter happy. She never wanted to let anything get in the way of that. It was one of the reasons why she was so scared of her secret getting out and the whole nocturnal world finding out about Lily. She knew for certain that once word got out about Lily's true parentage their life would never be the same. Dimitri would never leave her be. Lily would be the celebrity of the nocturnal world. Lissa would order her and her family to stay at court, most likely for their protection; but Rose didn't want any of that. She had built a life for her and her family away from the spotlight; away from prying eyes.

"You okay Mo- Rose?" Lily asked, catching her slip up before it was too late. Lily did a quick glance around and no one seemed to notice. Rose looked over at her daughter, not realizing that she had dazed off into dreamland, and smiled.

"I'm fine Lily, just thinking. That's all. Nothing bad; just memories." Rose said. Lily nodded her head.

"Okay well just don't go thinking too much or I'll have to find Adem and have him pull you out of dreamland again." Lily teased before taking a sip of her hot chocolate. Rose silently scolded Lily with a glare but held a grin on her lips. Carter slowly got up from his seat, at a different nearby table, and politely interrupted their conversation.

"Sorry to barge in but I need to steal Lily away from you. She needs to study now." Carter said carefully. He didn't want the others around them to figure out that he was actually training her. Rose understood instantly and bid her daughter good-bye while she sat in the café and finished her coffee. She didn't have anything else to do that day so she thought she might go for a walk or ask Adem to spar with her. Speaking of Adem she probably should go see what happened last night between him and her ex. She didn't hear the whole conversation but she caught bits and pieces. She vaguely remembered hear Adem say Dimitri's title and then introducing himself. But that was it. She passed out soon afterwards, too exhausted from either the encounter of her ghosts or just the jet lag from the travel.

She left the café soon after and started to make her way back to her room, maybe hoping that Adem would be nearby. If not she thought she would go check the gym, or the track and field area. As she was walking she kept thinking back to tense conversation she had with Dimitri in the hallway, steps away from her long held secret. How could she have been so foolish? What if he knew? What if he was there looking for Lily but ran into her instead? All the worrying questions ran through her head like a bullet. She didn't need this right now. She just wanted to make sure her secret never got out; that Lily never learned the truth. Not in this place at least. Home would be much better suited. But if only she could control her daughter the way she wanted. Deep down she knew that was impossible. Lily was her mother's daughter. And if Rose had any recollection of what she was like at Lily's age then it was never going to happen the way Rose wanted it be.

"Serebro!" a voice shouted. Rose looked up from the cobble pathway and saw the man she was looking for. Of course there was only one person that called her by that nickname.

"Adem, I was just going to go look for you." Rose said with a smile. Adem's grin widened.

"Good thing I found you first then; it looked like you were going off in dreamland again. And lord knows that it would've been hard to find you if you were." Adem teased her. Rose rolled her eyes at him and gave him a gentle shove. Adem wasn't thrown off by Rose's actions. He just smiled and then wrapped his arm around her shoulder, almost as if they were a couple. By Vlad, he wished they were. But it would only ever be in his dreams. They both knew that Dhampirs could never be together. It was one of the widely known unwritten rules amongst them all; so small moments like this were the ones that Adem held dear to his heart.

"Let's go to the gym. It looks like you need a good sparring match to loosen up." Adem said looking down at Rose. Rose cocked an eyebrow at her partner.

"What do you mean 'To loosen up?' I'm perfectly fine." Rose said, mocking offense. Adem let out a short laugh and shook his head.

"No you're not Serebro. You're all wound up like an old clock. You're so nervous about everything that you haven't even given yourself time to relax. We're here at court. The most protected spot for all of our kind. You don't need to worry about Strigoi attacking your family. Okay?" Rose and Adem, at this point, had stopped walking. Adem now had his hands on both of her shoulders and looked her dead in the eyes. Rose let out a sigh, knowing Adem was right. They were at court; she didn't need to worry about her father or her aunt. All she really needed to worry about was her daughter finding out too much about her past. And what really happened the last time she was here.

"I hate it when you're right." Rose mumbled under her breath. Adem cracked a smile and pulled her in for a hug.

"Ah, but you love me all the same." Adem planted a kiss on Rose's head and then they both continued down the stone pathway, headed towards the gym. Unbeknownst them they were being watched by a familiar figure two stories up who stood behind the gilded gold window frames of private quarters.

"Ma'am," a voice behind the figure called out. The woman pulled herself away from the window and back to the task before her.

"What is it?" She demanded in a harsh tone. The voice belonged to a male Dhampir. He wore the usual all black outfit of a Guardian, his dark brown hair was slicked back and his face had the marking from a recent fight. The bruises, though faded and almost gone, were still a reminder of the failure he was the woman in front of him.

"I'm sorry." The Guardian said to the woman. The woman, pale as snow and hair as black as night, was the ideal picture of beauty. However the scared reminder on her left cheek marred her physical beauty and instead left fear instead of love in her wake. Her pale blue eyes hardened the longer she looked at the Guardian before her. The eyes were the infamous pale blue of a certain royal bloodline; a pale blue that looked like the calm before the storm.

"You're sorry?" She asked in disbelief. "You're sorry that you let a 17 year old child plummet you and your partner, two graduated and promised Guardians, to a bloody pulp!" The woman shouted out. She was clearly not pleased. She was running out of time. They were sent to get rid of the bastard child and they failed. The woman took a deep breath before walking over to the Guardian, who by now was clearly terrified of the woman, and gave him a soft smile.

"You will pay for your failure; as well as your partner. Do I make myself clear, Guardian Vetrov?" The woman asked, glaring daggers into his eyes while smiling. The Guardian was smart enough to not say another word and nodded his head in silence.

"Good, now get out of my sight before I decide to do something I'd regret." The woman warned. Guardian Vetrov didn't need to be told twice. He bowed his head and then quickly made a beeline for the door. The woman rolled her neck out and sat down at her desk. She opened up her private laptop and hacked into the Court Security cameras. She clicked on the saved file from just days ago; the file with the date on which Rose had arrived with her family.

The file opened up the four security cameras that were placed around the entry way. In came Rose and her clan and the introductions were made and few words were spoken. But the woman only had eyes for the two females that had ruined her life. And she would make sure to Vlad that they would pay for what they did to her.

"First your mother and now you," the woman said as she focused her eyes on the young 17 year old girl who looked like the spitting image of Rose Hathaway. "I will make you both pay for what you have done to me." The woman spat out the words in disgust. She would end the Hathaway line forever. And there would be no one to stop her. Not even the Queen.

* * *

 **Well that brings up to the end of the chapter. Don't forget to leave a review. Until next time.**


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